Colorado beer, wine and spirits wholesaler Breakthru Beverage has consolidated its four Aurora-based locations into a new 647,500 sq. ft. facility on the east side of Denver.
“Our Colorado market has a significant ‘total alcohol beverage’ footprint, and the new facility incorporates both proven technology and innovative applications to increase productivity and service,” Breakthru Beverage vice president of operations excellence Mike Brown told Brewbound via email. “With our full business under this new facility, we can bring together sales, marketing, operations, logistics, technology and training in an impactful way.”
Breakthru Beverage Colorado is part of the New York-headquartered Breakthru Beverage Group, which was formed in October 2015 after Chicago-based Wirtz Beverage Group and New York’s Charmer Sunbelt Group merged. The company operates in 14 other states, Washington, D.C., and Canada, and employs more than 7,000 workers.
Breakthru significantly increased its share of the Colorado craft beer market last September when it acquired craft and import beer wholesaler C.R. Goodman. Breakthru’s expanded portfolio now includes a variety of notable craft brands, including Avery, Boulevard, Dogfish Head, Stone, Firestone Walker, and Odell, among others.
“Originally, we were planning to share a portion of the building with another tenant, but after the C.R. Goodman acquisition we decided to take the entire building to support our growth,” Brown said. “The new facility will certainly allow us to continue to look at opportunities for expanding our craft beer, liquor and wine business.”
The company moved into the new building in May, completing a 4-year expansion effort for Breakthru which began with construction of a 450-yard long building at 3980 Central Park Boulevard in September 2015. The company declined to disclose total project costs.
One million cases of alcohol have since been transferred to the warehouse, which features a 64,000 sq. ft. cold box for beer storage.
Brown said the cooler, along with the company’s fleet of refrigerated trucks, will help Breakthru provide “better quality control for products” and improve service to retail customers. He added that the C.R. Goodman transaction and plans for future craft beer growth led the company to expand the size of its cold box.
The 15-acre property is equidistant to downtown Denver and Denver International Airport, which Brown said will allow for easier access and logistics in servicing the company’s retail partners.
The “state-of- the-art” facility also features “high-speed conveyor, sortation and case shuttle systems,” Brown said.
“Our new conveyor system loads cases faster and more efficiently, which allows our delivery trucks to start deliveries earlier for our customers and reduces the amount of breakage we have while loading,” he said.
The building features 85,000 sq. ft. of dedicated corporate office space as well as an “Alchemy Room” with a commercial kitchen and demonstration bar equipped with high-definition video screens for training, education and beverage development.
The consolidated facility sits five miles east of Breakthru’s former main warehouse and office space at 14200 East Moncrieff Place as well as neighboring warehouses at 14501 East Moncrieff Place, 14303 East Moncrieff Place and 14402 East 33rd Place, which was formerly operated by C.R. Goodman.