Interview: RNDC President Tom Cole
April 20, 2015Republic National Distributing Company is one of the middle tier’s true giants. For years, RNDC has been the U.S. market’s second-leading spirits and wine distributor, behind only Southern Wine & Spirits. Over the past five years, the distributor’s annual revenue has climbed by over 40%—or $2 billion—and is on pace to finish 2015 at nearly $6.5 billion. Still, RNDC keeps seeking to get bigger—and better. Shanken News Daily managing editor Peter Zwiebach recently spoke with RNDC president Tom Cole about how the company has gotten to where it is today, and how it’s planning to achieve future growth.
SND: How was business in 2014, and how are things looking this year?
Cole: We had a good year in 2014. Being in 23 markets across the U.S., we’re usually in a position where we can see some weakness here and there, but across the board we had a very healthy year, particularly with spirits. Our business is basically 50-50 with regard to wines and spirits, while our competitors are much more vested in the spirits business. Achieving that balance has been one of my enduring goals, as has having a diverse portfolio that can meet the needs of our consumers and customers. We’ve been successful at that.
SND: Are you doing especially well in any particular markets?
Cole: We’re enjoying robust growth in Florida. We were north of $750 million last year, and should be up around $1 billion in the next few years. Our existing business in the market has been thriving, with our whisk(e)y portfolio and Fireball, and we were also able to add about 1 million cases of wine in Florida via new business, including the addition of the Banfi range. Given this growth, we’re now in the process of doubling the size of our distribution facility in Tampa. Additionally, things are going really well in Arizona, where we’re partnered with Young’s. We recently picked up the Jose Cuervo business there, which was a huge shot in the arm.
SND: Chains seem to be playing a more important role each day, in both channels. How is this impacting RNDC?
Cole: When we formed RNDC eight years ago (when Republic Beverage Co. joined forces with National Distributing Co.), we tried to figure out what would best allow us to add and create value for our suppliers, associates and owners—and what would set us apart from the competition. And one of the things we tightly focused on from the start was category management in our work with the chains, because we felt like the fact that we did business with every major supplier somewhere across the U.S. put us in a unique position to align that tier with the retail tier in order to best address the needs of both.
SND: Is category management with the chains still a top priority today?
Cole: Probably even more so than back then. The retail chain business is so competitive, and it’s undergone so much recent change at the top. Last year, there were leadership transitions at seven of the leading chains, including Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway and Costco, among others. I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I’ve never seen anything like that before. And each new arrival comes in with a fresh perspective and new goals and priorities and a different way to approach those. So it’s an exciting time.
The full interview appears in the April 1&15 issue of Impact.
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Tagged : Republic National Distributing Co., RNDC
