L.A. Libations, the beverage creator, incubator and accelerator which has been involved in some of the industry’s largest exits has taken a significant stake in Hi-Touch Distributing. HiTouch has become a major force in the Emerging Beverage Space in Southern California launching many brands in the regions Natural Channel Grocers, such as Whole Foods, Erewhon, Lazy Acres etc. The company, which will be called Hi-Touch Libations going forward, will fill a route-to-market gap for emerging brands.
“We have big plans for this partnership, we will leverage our big national retail relationships and our merchandising company Relentless Trade Solutions to be competitive advantages for emerging brands which we partner with. This investment gives emerging brands that we choose to distribute a compelling premium Route-To-Market.” said LAL Co-Founder Dino Sarti who originated and structured the investment on behalf of L.A. Libations. “We started our beverage journey wearing uniforms for the Coca-Cola distributor in Los Angeles and we never got it out of our system, it is back to our roots in many ways. This partnership gives emerging brands a much needed premium route to market in Southern California.”
L.A. Libations has been involved in some of the biggest beverage deals of the last decade such as Zico Coconut Water which exited to The Coca-Cola Company, Core Water which exited to Keurig Dr. Pepper and BodyArmor which sold to The Coca-Cola Company a year ago. L.A. Libations has received investment from many Beverage Strategics for its brands (Molson Coors, The Coca-Cola Company, Anheuser Busch, and & Keurig Dr Pepper, Molson Coors took a minority stake in L.A. Libations in 2019, which has become key component of their Non-Alc Strategy. Recently, L.A. Libations launched ZOA Energy with Dwayne “the Rock Johnson” and Juggernaut Capital and Four Sixes Craft Beers & RTD Cocktails with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. L.A. Libations is also the Emerging Beverage Category Captain at many of the nation’s largest retailers which will be a competitive advantage for Hi-Touch Libations in Southern California.
“In L.A. Libations we found the strategic partner that we have been looking for to rapidly expand and diversify our business. When we started Hi-Touch in 2014, we invested in building a foundation for the best route to market for emerging and national brands in the natural channel. This partnership enables us to rapidly expand our “best in class” service to all channels of trade in Southern California (Grocery, Mass, Drug & Convenience). We have secured our new Southern California warehouse that quadruple’s our infrastructure and allow us to service brands to an incredible amount of new customers.” Said Hi-Touch Co-Founder Chuck Casano.
“There is a significant gap and opportunity in the emerging beverage space in So Cal. Emerging & High Growth brands have limited distribution options, Hi-Touch Libations will fill a major void in the marketplace”, said L.A. Libations’ Executive Robert Macias, “the trade has quickly validated the need for this powerful collaboration”. Prior to LAL, Macias ran many of the largest Coca-Cola Branches in Southern California and has intimate knowledge of the distribution, operations and retail landscape in Southern California.
“I have known Danny Stepper for years and we always knew there was a synergistic opportunity to better serve more channels of trade throughout Southern California and beyond. Our Mission has always been to promote and distribute better-for-you options in the beverage and food space, so naturally (no pun intended) our focus was on the Natural Food Grocery retailers since the beginning of Hi-Touch. This partnership now enables us to spread the Hi-Touch service model to multiple channels of business and grow our brands.” Added Hi-Touch Co-Founder Czar Daniocolo.
About L.A. Libations
L.A Libations (LAL) is a fully integrated next generation beverage creator, incubator and accelerator. LAL has established itself as best-in-class entrepreneurial beverage company by forging industry successes, enjoying investment events, and prized exits with the biggest beverage companies in the world (Molson Coors, The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and Anheuser Busch). As the Emerging Beverage Category Captain and trusted advisor to many of the country’s largest and most influential retailers, LAL drives innovation in the “better for you” beverage space which is driving the industry growth. L.A. Libations operates a merchandising company called Relentless Trade Solutions, a marketing agency L.A. Vibrations, and a Southern California Incubation Program called SIP.
About Hi-Touch
Hi-Touch Distribution is Southern California’s Premier Direct Store Distributor serving all the best Natural Food Supermarkets (Whole Foods, Erewhon, Mothers Market, Lassens, Jimbos, Bristol Farms, Lazy Acres and more. Hi-Touch specializes in emerging brands that require high service levels, and strive to exceed both our retailer and brand partner expecations.
For More Information:
https://lalibations.com/