Distriblahtion
Opening a brewery is exciting business. It makes you wonder why there are so few micros in Georgia. The answer, we’ve increasingly found, is distribution. Georgia’s distribution laws are archaic, it turns out. The now-defunct Dogwood agrees in this oldy-but-goody from 2004:
As a start-up brewer, Moran says, his most important decision — more important than the design of his labels, the strain of yeast he used, or the varieties of beer he cooked up — was choosing a distributor. In Georgia, as in most states, all alcohol must go through an intermediary — a distributor — on its way from the manufacturer to the store shelves. It’s referred to as the “three-tier system,” and it dates back decades.
The three-tier system draws hard and fast lines between those who make alcohol, those who wholesale it, and those who sell it to consumers. If you do one, you can’t do either of the other two.
As we delve deeper into the business of brewing, picking a distributor that complements our goals and is willing to work towards them is going to be one of the key components of success. It is already frustrating for us to have to give up so much of the control of the commercial viability of the product to a 3rd-party, and it will only become more frustrating as we start to evaluate our options and introduce ourselves.
We want to have a true relationship with a distributor – yes, they will distribute, but we will help them sell and educate. And no matter what we want everyone involved to believe in the beer.
Jonathan, Joel & Jeff
March 5th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
It’s a very tough thing to deal with. If you want to do a little research on it, take a look at what Bell’s Brewing is going through in Illinois. Once you choose a distributor, they basically own your brand until THEY decide to give it up. Bell’s had to leave the state entirely to get out of their relationship with the distributor, and when they came back to the state, they couldn’t do so under the “Bell’s” name, it’s now Kalamazoo Brewing Co.
If I were you, I’d talk to the guys up at Bullock’s liquor store in Marietta. It was consistently one of the first places to introduce new craft beers in the Atlanta area when I used to live there, and they can probably give you a run-down of the distributor lineup in the state. Or, since you have Victory and Bell’s (at least I think you’ve got Bell’s), take a look at who they selected for distribution, as I know they entered the market within the last year.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
You also want to look at the lineup of that distributor though. I was talking to Ted about this. From what he was saying, if your distributor already has a product like yours, they’ll just tell you they aren’t going to push your beer.
Also, I’ve had the new “Bells,” as it’s served at a restaurant my wife and I go to a lot. It’s good, but I’m not sure we needed another amber ale in Chicago. This is the home of Goose Island, after all. Also, Half Acre is coming out with an ale (or so they say on their website), and I’d honestly rather buy something local than something that was thrown together as a way to squeeze some money out of a state that loves Bells.