Distribution Reps: The Behind-the-Scenes Ambassadors of Your Craft Beer Community

When people discuss their local beer scenes, the conversations center around which breweries, taprooms, and bottle shops have the best offerings. From there, the discussion may shift to what’s on tap at local bars and restaurants, or what cans or bottles are available at various markets, grocery stores or even gas stations. What’s rarely mentioned are distribution companies and their representatives, who act as the connective tissue between breweries and any off-site location where their products are consumed.

At the lowest level, distribution reps facilitate product orders from bars, restaurants, and package stores, but the job quickly gets more involved. Even for non beer-centric venues, it’s the distribution rep’s job to ensure that the products they sell meet customer expectations. This means everything from making sure the draft lines are clean to cycling out old products from store shelves. An extremely detail-oriented rep will even make sure the cans and bottles they supply are well organized on store shelves, with the labels facing out towards the customer. 

When it comes to higher-end taprooms and bottle shops, their role is closer to that of a matchmaker, helping owners and managers pick out selections that meet their needs from ever-changing catalogs that include hundreds of selections. Each venue has a unique clientele, and in the rapidly evolving beer industry, distribution reps help their clients keep up.

The Three-Tiered System

Many drinkers would be surprised to know that, in the United States, venues don’t (and can’t) order their beers directly from breweries. This is because of the “Three-Tier System,” which was implemented at the end of Prohibition. This system mandates separation between manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of alcoholic beverages. Manufacturers (i.e. breweries, distilleries, wineries) can only sell to wholesalers, who are the only ones that retailers can buy from. 

While macro beers are easily available nationwide, for smaller craft breweries, it’s a different picture. Without a distributor, breweries can only sell their products from their taprooms. This is where the distributors come in. In the same way that there are macro breweries and independent breweries, there are also distributors that focus on carrying major brands as well as independent distributors who deal with independent craft breweries.

When a brewery is ready to start distributing beers outside of their location, they will usually partner up with a local independent distributor. The distributor is then responsible for getting their beer on the shelves and tap lines of local bars and restaurants. Because independent distributors tend to only cover local regions, breweries that choose to expand production may partner up with additional distributors in other regions. This is how great beers from across the country become available in your favorite bar, restaurant or tap house. 

Speaking on the necessary relationship between breweries and distributors, Mark Maitland, a veteran distribution rep and the current Denver Sales Market Manager at Upslope Brewing in Colorado, remarked that interest “comes from both sides… Sometimes a brewery might reach out to a distributor and say ‘I want to enter XYZ market, can you help us out?’ but on other occasions, if a brewery has enough hype, they might be shopped around by various distributors who want to carry their products.” This is further complicated by the fact that any one market is covered by numerous distribution companies. This gives breweries the freedom to choose which distribution company they want selling their product, and on the front line of sales, distribution reps do the heavy lifting.

More than a Middleman 

While the title of salesman usually conjures up images of sleazy used car dealers and real estate agents chirping about “good bones,” in order to make it as a sales rep with an independent distribution company, passion for the craft is non-negotiable. Retailers have no shortage of distributors who are willing to sell them great beer, but to stand out, a distributor needs to have a deep understanding of their product as well as their client and act as a matchmaker to provide them with the beers their customers will burn through. 

While retailers in any industry work with distributors, distribution reps in the beer industry are unique in that they have catalogs that can consist of up to hundreds of unique products. Furthermore, each week, new beers are released while others run out of stock—perhaps to return next year, and often never again.

In addition to the constantly changing catalogs, reps also need to stay ahead of the curve of trends within the beer industry. Which brewery will be the next must-have on draft lists? Which beer style is about to take the country by storm? However, for a great distribution rep, finding the answer to these questions is more of a quest than a chore. Reflecting on his own tendencies to self-educate, Maitland remarked, “That primarily comes from my intrinsic nerdiness—wanting to follow along with what the next big thing is, having subscriptions to certain publications and following along with social media to see who the next big hitters are going to be.” An abundance of samples to share with clients also helps.

However, all of this industry knowledge is useless if the rep can’t use it to match their clients with the products that their patrons will love. Regarding his day-to-day operations, Maitlaind explains, “I’d go in and survey pretty much every location. As I’m sitting to talk with the manager of the bar or liquor store, I may notice, ‘hey, they don’t have any blonde ales available.’ It all comes down to knowing which styles are trending and which are profitable and then presenting [the client] with that information.” Over weeks, months and years, distributors can develop a strong sense for the specific needs of each client they work with. Some bars go crazy for fruited sours, while a bottle shop up the road may thrive selling imported bottles of German lagers. 

Being a distribution rep is an inherently social job that involves both educating and listening. Reps develop a friendly rapport with everyone from the owners and managers of the various venues they serve as well as everyone from their staff to the drivers who deliver the products they sell. Their workdays often begin with solving problems that arose from their customers overnight; their workdays end by sharing a beer with the people they sell to. 

Distribution reps are also a ubiquitous presence at beer fests, seizing the opportunity to meet the people behind the numerous breweries they represent. On some occasions, when a brewery is trying to develop a foothold in a new market, they may send a sales representative to chat one-on-one with retailers, and who would be better to show them around than distribution reps?

Reflecting on countless hours spent talking shop with members of the craft beer community, Maitland said, “I think there’s a romance to it for sure. Some distributors do their job and act as a middleman getting the products to the customer, and others actually want to build a relationship with them. For me that was very important, and when I look back, many of my best friends came from being a distributor.” 

An Evolving Industry

Ideally, every retailer should have a wide assortment of knowledgeable distributors to work with, each having a unique catalog to choose from. However, as beer sales continue to slump across the country, this is becoming more difficult. In some markets, distribution reps are being asked to cover larger territories, giving them less time to develop relationships with individual clients. 

In some cases, especially in more rural markets, distributor-retailer interactions may be limited to phone calls and emails. In the worst-case scenario, some distribution reps have been eliminated entirely, as some distribution companies are opting to replace distribution reps with online portals to place orders through.

This doesn’t just deprive retailers of valued expertise; it deprives the community as a whole of individuals who have dedicated their lives to cultivating a community around the beverage they love. “There’s a competitive edge to it,” Maitland remarked of his relationship with the reps from other distribution companies, “but I also loved working with them. At the end of the day, we all had the same goal of bringing people great beer.”