New Distribution Agreement Opens Up More Presence for Reed’s & Virgil’s Brands to the 3rd Largest City in the US
LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – Nov 5, 2012) – Reed’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: REED), maker of the top-selling sodas in natural food stores nationwide, announced today that it has reached a new distribution agreement with Central Beverage of Chicago, a full service beverage distributor headquartered in Broadview, IL. Central Beverage is a fully integrated direct store delivery (DSD) distributor serving all retail channels and over 3500 customers throughout the eight county Chicago Metro market. Central Beverage has successfully been distributing some the most popular alcoholic and non alcoholic national and regional brands in Chicago since 2002. Some of the brands within in their portfolio of products are Old Style, LaCroix, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Arizona Iced Tea, Sweet Leaf, Marleys, Zico Coconut Water, San Pellegrino and many more.
Chris Reed, Founder and CEO, stated, “We are excited to be partnered with a great distributor, in one of the largest markets in the country and to start moving our Reed’s and Virgil’s brands into the Chicago marketplace. We’ve had a presence in Chicago for years in the natural and gourmet channels. This will allow us to target the rest of the accounts including mainstream markets, restaurants and up and down the street business in general. We anticipate the continued roll out of our products into mainstream distribution throughout the US.”
About Central Beverage Company
Central Beverage Company is a direct-store-delivery (DSD) beverage distributor servicing over 3500 retailers in the eight county Chicago metro area with beer and other malt based alcoholic products as well as teas, juices, energy drinks, functional beverages, sodas and bottled water.
We service all retail channels, from national mass merchandiser and grocery chains to local grocery stores, convenient chains and local independent retailers as well as bars, restaurants, hotels and sports and entertainment venues. Our on-premise team is 100% Cicerone Certified. For many products, we are one stop shopping to local and national chain retailers in our market.
Central Beverage Company began in November 2002 as the successor business to Central Distributing Company, a beverage distributor who had been in operation since 1985. Central Beverage Company is owned and operated locally by Mark Muench, Patrick Savaiano and Donna Spagnola. We operate out of a distribution and office facility in the western Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois.
The Company’s goal is to continue to build its reputation as a leading customer oriented DSD distributor for beverage products in the Chicago market while it looks for opportunities to expand its product lines.
The Company locally employs over 100 people, both union and non-union and we are ethnically and gender diverse. Central Beverage Company and its ownership are unique in that they are not a family owned business by historical definition, as most beverage distributors are. Central’s predecessor company was investor owned and operated. As key management for that Company, Donna, Mark and Pat were able to become minority owners of that business and as a result, had the opportunity to establish Central Beverage Company. Although not related, Donna, Mark and Pat have a strong partnership and work well together; they have thus created their own “Central Beverage” family. They each have 20+ years of experience and success in the running of the Company, as well as a commitment and entrepreneurial spirit to see that the future of the business is as successful as its past.
About Reed’s, Inc.
Reed’s, Inc. makes the top-selling natural sodas in the natural foods industry sold in over 13,000 natural food markets and supermarkets nationwide. Its six award-winning non-alcoholic Ginger Brews are unique in the beverage industry, being brewed, not manufactured and using fresh ginger, spices and fruits in a brewing process that predates commercial soft drinks. The Company owns the top-selling root beer line in natural foods, the Virgil’s Root Beer product line, and the top-selling cola line in natural foods, the China Cola product line. In 2012, the Company launched Reed’s Culture Club Kombucha line of organic live beverages. Other product lines include: Reed’s Ginger Candies and Reed’s Ginger Ice Creams. In 2009, Reed’s started producing private label natural beverages for select national chains. Reed’s products are sold through specialty gourmet and natural food stores, mainstream supermarket chains, retail stores and restaurants nationwide, and in Canada, as well as through private label relationships with major supermarket chains.
For more information about Reed’s, please visit the Company’s website at: http://www.reedsinc.com or call 800-99-REEDS.
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