I've read that Double Cola Company is using beer distributors to help get its products into stores.

11/5/2010 - Carter Distributing To Be Double-Cola Distributor - Business - Chattanoogan.com

Does anyone know how common this is? Do most beer distributors also handle soft drinks, or is this something new?

Around here, Finger Lakes Region of New York, Dr Pepper/Snapple stuff, besides Dr Pepper, is distributed by beer vendors. Crush also, if not handled by Pepsi, but I think Pepsi may have Crush everywhere around here now.

A lot of beer/wine distributors also distribute sodas, energy drinks, juices, and so on. It seems to be more common in areas where beer & wine are sold everywhere, not just in liquor stores.

Boylan's is handled by some beer distributors, as is Red Bull and Monster.


And, in some remote/small markets, the independent Coke/Pepsi distributor also distributes beer/wine/etc.

Example: Bink's in Escanaba & Iron Mountain MI.

www.BinksBeverages.com | Welcome

I know many AB wholesalers that carry n/a items like Dad's Root Beer, Monster Energy, water, etc...

Makes perfect sense. You have the distribution network in place, may as well utilize it to the max.

Making the most of your distribution network sounds good to me, but I've heard different things from some people who work for beer distributors. One said that the energy drinks had many of the same customers as the beers, so they made a natural fit. Another said that distributing soft drinks would be "a waste" because "there are already too many sodas on the shelves that don't sell."

Beer and liquor distributors also distributing non-alc is fairly common in Georgia. My product, a non-alc RTD coffee is distributed by United, who also distributes products like Absolut, Miller Coors, Guinness, Jack, Bacardi, and so on. They also distribute non-alcs like Xing Tea, Krunk, and a few others.

My product, the Whynatte Latte, is used as a mixer on-premise, and sold as a standalone beverage in c-stores, grocery and package. For us, given the on-premise usage, going with a beer distributor was the only way for us to have one distributor that serviced all of these channels. Even though liquor is not sold in c-stores and grocery in GA, they're still taking the beer there. Of the other big beer/liquor distributors in GA, about half of them also carry non-alcs. Maybe over half. Empire has Red Bull (although Matador still distributes RB off-premise in GA). AB has a few random non-alcs, but used to have Monster. And so on.

I have mixed feelings on using a beer distributor to distribute non-alcs off premise. On one hand, they have the relationships with the c-stores, package and grocery, but on the other hand their specialty is booze, so that's what they tend to do best. Unless you really stay on top of the relationship, you're going to play second fiddle to the big booze brands. But, I think that this is the way it works for smaller brands regardless of the type of distributor.

If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm pretty familiar with the topic, and can give you my perspective.