Exclusive: Wholesale Tier Expected To Eke Out Slight Gain This Year

The U.S. wholesale market for wine and spirits is projected to eke out an increase in revenue terms this year, despite pressure on disposable incomes, higher trade hurdles, and weaker growth across much of the industry. Overall, wholesale revenues for wine and spirits are set to climb 0.7% to just under $71 billion this year, with the largest players continuing to outperform their smaller competitors.

The top 10 wholesalers nationally are expected to combine for 2025 revenues of just under $58 billion, or almost 82% of the total market, with their collective share increasing slightly year over year. That’s because the leading distributors are generally projecting that they’ll achieve modest growth this year despite the tough conditions, contrasting with a roughly 2% decline for the rest of the wholesale tier.

Still, even the largest wholesalers nationally are retrenching after the tumultuous conditions of the last few years, characterized by the boom during the pandemic and the subsequent supply chain problems, inflation, and dropoff in demand. That includes top player Southern Glazer’s, which is projecting revenues of $25.3 billion this year.

“We have to go back to where we were before Covid, look at what happened during Covid, and then determine what a normal growth rate over historic business would look like,” says Southern Glazer’s CEO Wayne Chaplin. “And I think we are coming back to that level sometime later this year or sometime next year.”

Resetting expectations after the crests and troughs created by Covid is a familiar theme, but it’s not the only challenge. “We do have these other outside macro effects as well,” Chaplin notes. “The biggest one really is the economy and disposable income for our consumers. With disposable income being tight, I think we’re starting to see a little more stress on beverage alcohol purchases, especially in the on-premise and especially at the higher end.”

Still, there remain clear growth opportunities within the beverage alcohol landscape. “Consumers looking to spend money on alcohol are seeking value for the money,” says Julian Burzynski, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Breakthru Beverage Group, which ranks third within the distributor tier with projected 2025 revenues of $8.5 billion. “Organic and low- or non-alcoholic wine options, as well as high-end fine wines are all category bright spots as consumer habits change.”

Among significant middle-tier developments lately, second-ranked Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC) appointed company veteran Bob Hendrickson as interim CEO earlier this year, following the departure of former chief executive Nick Mehall. RNDC, which operates across 40 U.S. markets, is projected to see revenues of $11.4 billion this year on a slight increase.

That’s despite the loss of some key brands in the California market recently to burgeoning player Reyes Beverage Co., the nation’s top beer distributor, which has rapidly built a formidable wine and spirits lineup. Reyes’s California business alone now includes Sazerac and Brown-Forman brands, along with Tito’s vodka and Gallo’s High Noon. The company is also on the move in wine and spirits in other markets around the country, and has entered the ranks of the top 10 wine and spirits wholesalers nationally.—Daniel Marsteller

A full report on the leading wholesale players in the U.S. wine and spirits market appears in Impact’s April 1&15 issue. Click here to subscribe.

Tagged : Breakthru Beverage, Reyes Beverage Co., RNDC, Southern Glazer's

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