Interview, Part 1: Nick Mehall On RNDC’s Vision For The Future

Nick Mehall took over as chief executive of Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC) in early 2022, amid a tumultuous period in the industry coinciding with the pandemic. Nearly three years later, RNDC has continued to expand its national footprint while onboarding a number of new suppliers and upgrading its operations for the digital age. This year, the second-ranked U.S. wholesaler of wine and spirits is projecting sales of $12.2 billion across its 40-market territory. Key suppliers include Brown-Forman, Delicato, William Grant, Edrington, Rémy Cointreau, Riboli, Treasury Wine Estates, Jackson Family Wines, Proximo, Gallo, Pernod Ricard, Trinchero, and Luxco, among others. SND executive editor Daniel Marsteller met with Mehall recently for an update.

SND: How has RNDC adapted its strategy to address all the change happening across the drinks market?

Mehall: Our strategy has evolved to make sure we’re showing up as a national partner for our suppliers. We’ve made big investments around standardization and consistency of our route to market across the country. We realized there was an opportunity to better service customers as well as suppliers. We’ve made some structural changes to be more vertically integrated behind national accounts as an example. That drove not only increased accountability, but created that level of connection from our headquarters all the way down to the local outlet in the marketplace, driving a much more consistent approach for how we call on national accounts.

We did something very similar on the portfolio side, making engagement with our suppliers much more vertically integrated from top to bottom. That allows us to adapt to the changes happening in the marketplace and quickly react to trends. The convenience channel is a big one right now—we’ve made some pretty sizable investments in convenience in a number of strategic markets that we’re now learning from, and we’re taking those learnings and will determine how that’s going to now show up in other markets across the country. Those are two big shifts that are setting us up for the future.

SND: RNDC has struck fresh deals recently with Bronco, Duckhorn, Palm Bay, Edrington, and Riboli among others. What are your priorities currently as far as the supplier portfolio?

Mehall: There was a big focus around reshaping our overall wine portfolio, and you saw that happen over the course of the last two years in a pretty quick manner. That’s been complementary to our market expansion in New York and Illinois. It was about trying to expand our relationships with a number of those suppliers as well as attract new business into those markets to solidify our position.

We’re excited about the additions that we’ve brought on. There’s been a concerted effort to focus where we believe categories are primed for growth, and also to ensure that we’ve got the right brands that are complementary to our existing portfolio.

SND: How do you see the outlook for the wine business more broadly?

Mehall: We’re still very bullish on the premium space in wine. Looking at $15 to $25 and above, it’s a healthy part of the overall category. We continue to invest in that with our Estates Group across the entire U.S., which is now under one umbrella that provides a more consistent route to market. We’ve learned from early successes in a number of markets where the Estates Group has been established, and we’re now extending that in a much more deliberate way around the country.

SND: What are you seeing on the spirits side?

Mehall: Tequila continues to be strong, and we’ve had a lot of success with gin as well more recently. I think you’re going to continue to see strength in those categories as well as ready-to-drink and ready-to-serve, which is where a lot of the recent innovation has been focused. The consumer continues to be more discretionary with how they spend their dollars, and they’re also increasingly intent on understanding what they’re consuming—that shows up with the additive-free trend in Tequila, for example.

Tagged : RNDC

GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2025 ESTIMATES AND 2030 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2025 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.