It’s never been easy to be a small brewery in a wholesaler’s vast book. In the past few years, however, a host of factors have combined to make this positioning even more challenging:
- Distributor consolidation has shuffled the landscape.
- Bud Light’s struggles left Anheuser-Busch InBev–aligned houses reeling.
- A slowdown in craft sales has meant that wholesalers’ attention focuses elsewhere.
- Wholesaler portfolios have been growing ever bigger amid the growth of hemp-derived beverages, energy drinks, canned wine, and RTDs.
Then there’s staff turnover—a broader industry trend, and distributors have not been immune. It’s a trend that can have major ripple effects on small supplier partners, who often feel like they barely have the ear of their wholesaler to begin with.
“I certainly have had experiences where we established a great relationship with a craft-brand manager, they leave, and then you’re left wondering, ‘Who should I talk to?’” says Michelle Forster, sales director at Black Tooth Brewing in Sheridan, Wyoming.
The Wider Industry Context
Recent headlines underscore the problem. Large-scale layoffs in 2024 hit the United States’ two largest wholesalers—Republic National Distributing Company and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits—with RNDC reportedly laying off about 800 employees and SGWS about 3,000. (Neither company has confirmed the layoffs, but they’ve been widely reported in the trade press, and former employees have collaborated to share details on social media.) Most of these layoffs have focused on the companies’ wine divisions, but beer is not immune to the churn.
In a presentation to the Montana Brewers Association in September, the beverage advisory firm Pints named staff turnover as the top headwind facing wholesalers today. According to employment data from the National Beer Wholesalers Association, beer distributors today employ 137,000 people, down from 142,000 people in 2020.
“This is happening in bev-alc in general—let’s not confine it to craft beer,” says Andy Mansinne, founder and president of Brand Elixir Partnership, a full-service consulting firm for craft-beverage brands. Distributors “have acquired too many SKUs, and they’re protected in terms of their margin structure. So, they’re forcing a hell of a lot of responsibility on top of their suppliers. Many of those are small start-ups that are struggling with really tight gross margins.”
An already delicate supplier-wholesaler relationship is made even more fraught when a key distributor employee leaves. So, what’s a small brewery to do? In short: Shore up contacts, put grievances aside, and develop a relationship built on mutually agreed upon—but measurable and actionable—goals. Here’s how.
Deepen the Rolodex
In an era of high turnover, having just one point of contact at a distributor is a liability. At Black Tooth, Forster says she has been intentional about making connections with as many employees of their 10 wholesaler partners—six in Wyoming and four outside the state—as possible.
“I’m not depending on just the craft-brand manager or just this or that sales rep,” she says. “It’s making sure you have relationships with the GM and maybe even the owner if it’s a small company. The beer manager, the nonalcoholic person—make sure they’re part of your professional family.”
She says she prefers to make these connections in person. When she’s in a wholesaler’s territory, she deliberately introduces herself to as many people at the company as she can, from receptionists to drivers, collecting business cards along the way. She then adds those contacts’ email addresses to her bimonthly newsletter (more on that below). Asking to attend wholesalers’ sales meetings also has paid off for Forster; she says you’re “guaranteed” to be introduced to the GM or president of the company at those events.
Foster also invites distributor employees to the brewery’s taprooms in Sheridan and Cheyenne, buying them rounds. A recent “open house” in Cheyenne was particularly successful, with good attendance from people in varied roles—from accounting to warehouse—at the wholesaler. It removes the formality of an annual business-planning meeting and engenders goodwill; it also helps Black Tooth stay top-of-mind among a broad swath of the wholesaler’s staff.
“They need to know that they’re your people and that you can’t do what you want to do without them,” Forster says. “It’s a lot of personal work.”
In her previous role as executive director of the Wyoming Brewers Guild, Forster worked to pass a franchise-reform law, signed in March 2024, that makes it easier for smaller breweries to end their contracts with distributors. The legislation was a compromise between breweries and wholesalers, and the effort introduced Forster to many of them—not always in the most comfortable of circumstances.
Still, the two sides came to consensus, an experience that taught her the value of negotiation and of keeping an open mind when it comes to the middle tier—even during turbulent times.
“Consolidation doesn’t have to be terrifying,” she says. “It can be really disruptive and challenging, but it’s also an opportunity to dig deeper into your relationship with somebody new who might have new energy, new resources, new ideas.”
Clarify Expectations
When staff turnover is high, it’s more critical than ever for breweries and wholesalers to have a clear game plan from which to work collaboratively.
If a particular sales rep or craft manager leaves, could someone new step into that role and know what the sales targets, key accounts, and measurable goals are for a particular brewery? Mansinne, with the Brand Elixir consulting firm, stresses that breweries and other suppliers should set goals for their wholesalers that are specific, measurable, achievable, and time-bound.
“If you just say, ‘I need 500 cases by the end of the year,’ you won’t get it,” Mansinne says. “If you think you can do 500 cases this year, and you specify the top priority accounts, then you can inspect those and say to your distributor, ‘Hey I thought we agreed on A, B, and C on-prem accounts as top-performing in my book. Where are you?’ Then you can hold them accountable.”
Keep in mind that staff turnover means headaches for distributors, not only for their brewery partners. As new wholesaler employees get up to speed, they’ll increasingly rely on breweries to come armed with detailed sales plans. The more specific a brewery can be, Mansinne says, the more likely that wholesaler is to execute. It’s not stepping on their toes—it’s more likely they’ll be grateful for the marching orders.
He offers this mock script: “Hey, Mr. Distributor, thanks for taking my IPA. I have found the success I’ve had to date is 70 percent on-prem and 30 percent retail. I don’t perform well in classic convenience stores, but in the big beer depots where I can have a 20-case stack, I can do well because I have great point-of-sale, and my people go in and out all the time. To boost the on-premise, what I really need are tap handles and your support in executing Friday night beer-and-pizza promos at XYZ bar.”
At Black Tooth, Forster agrees that focused, strategic communication is important. But don’t forget the human touch: Some wholesalers want more friendly banter, while others expect to-the-point, no-frills communication. Knowing the preferences and styles of key people at your wholesalers can help that message land properly.
“I don’t even know how to express how much that’s a piece of my energy, to tailor my communication to individuals in each company,” Forster says. “That’s an enormous part of my calculation—how often to communicate, in what tone, and to whom.”
Be the Squeaky Wheel
A craft brand is unlikely to be the largest-volume player in its wholesaler’s book. It therefore pays for small breweries to punch above their weight in terms of communication with distributors—especially if wholesalers’ staff is stretched thin and likely to prioritize only what’s directly in front of them.
It’s not ideal, but it’s the reality: In the current beer-sales climate, a supplier can’t expect its wholesaler to execute on its behalf without frequent check-ins and support.
“You as the brand owner take responsibility for everything,” Mansinne says. “You need to develop relationships [with your distributors], from principals all the way down.”
In the large, rural states of Wyoming and Montana, Forster says she has found success not only with in-person events but also a virtual newsletter that she sends to wholesalers—remember, she’s saving every employee’s email address she can gather—every other month.
Sometimes, that newsletter includes new brands, new packaging, or pricing changes. It also includes a “Technical Corner”—in a recent newsletter, that column explains how Black Tooth brewers develop the blend for their annual barrel-aged barleywine release. It also features a staff spotlight to help distributors get to know more people at the brewery, plus links to brand assets. Even when there’s not much actual news to include in the newsletter, Forster says it’s proven to be a valuable tool for simply keeping Black Tooth top-of-mind with partners.
“The content is perhaps less important than the fact that I’m making contact,” she says. “It really is just a touchpoint—a way for me to make sure I’m touching everybody every other month.”
She says her persistent communication with one wholesaler paid off in late October, when she got a call from a rep at that distributor to tell her he’d secured placement for one of Black Tooth’s SKUs in a huge chain account—a major win that Forster hadn’t been banking on. She attributes that pick-up to two factors: First, Black Tooth’s sales were growing in that wholesaler’s territory year over year, so the brewery was a bright spot in the rep’s portfolio. Second, she and this sales rep had discussed expanding chain placements in their annual business-planning meeting—and several times subsequently.
“I come at the communication with the attitude of ‘teach me something,’” she says. “I was recently in his territory, following up on talking to him at the ABP about getting more chain accounts, and I had told him, ‘Give me marching orders.’”
It’s not always easy, but approaching wholesalers with this “help me help you” attitude has paid off for Forster. It indicates that she as a brewery rep is putting in the work, she says, and it makes wholesalers more inclined to look for ways to win together.
She offers an example of one of Black Tooth’s distributors in Montana: That state—whose beer sales skew hyper-local—is a challenge for the out-of-state brewery. Forster asks for feedback from that wholesaler on what Black Tooth might be able to do to move the needle, such as introducing new pack sizes or styles. It’s not always feasible to execute on that, of course, but just asking the question has demonstrated that brewery and wholesaler are confronting challenges together.
“In order for me to see my brand reach its full potential, I have to care” about what matters to her wholesalers, she says. “Like any personal or professional relationship, you have to understand what the other person is motivated by. That teaches them you’re paying attention, and they feel much more comfortable advocating for you.”
The work paid off: That Montana wholesaler has begun ordering more seasonal SKUs from Black Tooth than ever before.
“They’re looking for reasons to put us back in the market,” Forster says. “I think that has a lot to do with me caring about their experience.”