Distribution

One of the biggest beer wholesalers in the country is growing once again. Reyes Beverage Group subsidiary Harbor Distributing LLC last week announced an agreement to acquire the assets of Central Coast Distributing LLC in Santa Maria, California.

Texas’ craft brewers and wholesalers have agreed to a compromise in the years-long debate over to-go beer sales at manufacturing breweries. A “stakeholder agreement” announced Wednesday evening by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, which represents the state’s nearly 300 craft breweries, and the Beer Alliance of Texas, a powerful wholesaler lobbying group, has the potential to finally legalize off-premise sales at the Lone Star State’s manufacturing breweries.

Startup hard kombucha producer Juneshine today announced the closing of a seed funding round that has enabled the company to acquire brewing equipment at Ballast Point’s Scripps Ranch facility in San Diego and take over the property.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Union efforts begin at Anchor Brewing; Weyerbacher seeks investment; Tree House buys a farm in Connecticut; Pabst rebrands Not Your Father’s; and more industry news.

Virginia may be for lovers, but it won’t be a place where drinkers can purchase Bell’s beer for much longer. Bell’s Brewery founder Larry Bell notified the company’s seven Virginia wholesalers on Friday that the Michigan craft brewery would cease shipments to the state after filling final orders.

A century after the ratification of Prohibition, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could have wide-ranging effects on the three-tier system. On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association vs. Blair. At issue in the case is the constitutionality of the state of Tennessee’s two-year residency requirement for obtaining a liquor license. Additionally, the state requires a decade of residency for the renewal of liquor licenses, which expire after one year.

Portland, Oregon-headquartered Columbia Distributing will acquire a majority of the assets from Graybeal Distributing in Eastern Oregon. A purchase price was not disclosed.

More than a year after launching beer deliveries throughout Phoenix, Arizona, Pizza Hut today announced plans to expand the service into 1,000 stores by mid-2019. The national pizza chain, owned by Yum Brands, said it would expand its beer delivery service into five new states — Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina and Ohio — by mid-January.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: MillerCoors sells its Eden facility for $2.75 million; Reyes acquires 2.5 million cases from Mission Beverage; Blue Moon is named the “Official Craft Beer” of the Kentucky Derby; and more industry news.

In this week’s edition of Press Clips: Reyes buys the Constellation Brands portfolio from Ace; beer shipments are down 2.1 percent in 2018; the U.S. brewery count eclipses 7,000; Utah mandates tests to ensure 3.2 ABW; and more.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sycamore Brewing is “living in fast forward,” according to vice president of sales Archie Gleason. The Kenny Chesney lyric appears apt for the 5-year-old craft brewery, which plans to double its beer and cider production by the end of the year.

Cincinnati’s Fifty West Brewing Company has quickly established itself as brand to watch. The Ohio-based craft brewery, which opened its doors in 2012, topped market research firm IRI’s list of new vendors in supermarkets, with off-premise dollar sales of nearly $214,000, for the 27 weeks ending July 8, IRI director of client insights Patrick Livingston shared during last month’s Brewers Association Power Hour.

Craft beer wholesaler Cavalier Distributing has acquired the distribution rights to “all suppliers” within the portfolio of Florida-based Micro Man Distributors. According to a letter sent by Cavalier founder and president George Fisher, that was addressed to its Florida beer suppliers, the transaction closed on Monday, October 22. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Constellation Brands has succeeded in forcing two more Southern California beer wholesalers to sell the rights to distribute the company’s beer offerings to the Reyes Beverage Group. In separate deals, Reyes acquired the rights to sell Constellation’s offerings — including popular imported Mexican beer labels Corona, Modelo and Pacifico as well as craft offerings from Ballast Point — from Triangle Beverage in Santa Fe Springs and Beauchamp Distributing Company in Compton. The long-rumored deals officially closed on Friday, October 19, according to Constellation spokeswoman Jamie Stein.