Southern Does It Again In Washington, Signing Pact With Diageo

After lining up a series of major supplier partners in Washington’s newly privatized spirits market over the past few weeks, Southern Wine & Spirits has reached an agreement with the biggest player of all. Earlier today, Diageo told Shanken News Daily that it has named Southern as its exclusive spirits distributor in Washington. Southern already handled Diageo’s wine portfolio in Washington, and has acted as broker for its spirits brands under the control state system that Washington has long employed.

Last month, Southern reached deals to become the exclusive Washington distributor for Pernod Ricard USA; Sidney Frank Importing Co.; Campari America and Beam Inc. Southern is now focused on getting its spirits distribution business in the state up and running, with plans to sell to the on-premise starting March 1 and the off-premise starting July 1. Southern doesn’t appear daunted by the quick timetable. “We have a proven track record of ramping up effective operations in a very short time. In Indiana, for example, we established a fully operational sales and service division from the ground up within three weeks,” Southern president and COO Wayne Chaplin recently told Shanken News Daily. “So we have the ability to ramp up a spirits division in Washington.”

Tagged : Diageo, Southern Wine & Spirits, Washington

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