The rights to 15 brands will change hands from Richmond, California-based Bay Area Distributing to Antioch-based Markstein Sales Company.
Included in the deal are the rights to Northern California-based brands Drake’s and Bear Republic, which merged earlier this year, as well as Japanese import Asahi and Dust Bowl Brewing. The new brands will add 350,000 case equivalents annually, bringing Markstein’s business to 5 million cases per year, a spokesperson told Brewbound.
The sale comes as Bay Area owner Ken Sodo prepares to retire and wind down the 51-year-old distribution business.
“We wish Ken the best of luck in his retirement as he trusts Markstein to continue bringing the community a strong mix of large and small beverage brands,” Markstein president Laura Markstein said in a press release. “As a company with more than 220 employees living locally, we are proud of supporting our community, whether that is through sponsoring events, funding local organizations, volunteering our time, or helping hard-working local beverage companies get on the coveted store shelf.
“We work in, live in, and love this community and we are always looking for ways to provide the best service, products, and support to the best region in the world.”
Both Markstein and Bay Area service Alameda and Contra Costa counties, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Bay Area was the first distributor to carry Sierra Nevada, according to its website.
Additional brands included in the transaction are Famosa Imported Beer, Farmers Brewing, Full Circle Brewing (which recently merged with Speakeasy Ales & Lagers), High Water Brewing, Shadow Puppet Brewing and Two Pitchers Brewing. Markstein will also acquire Bay Area’s rights to non-alcoholic portfolios from Calypso, Nestle and Poppi.
Markstein was founded 1919 by Albert R. Markstein Sr. and has remained family-owned. In July 2022, the Anheuser-Busch (A-B) InBev-aligned distributor acquired part of Oakland-based AB ONE, A-B’s wholly owned distributor in the area. Markstein took over AB ONE’s Oakland business while South San Francisco-based Matagrano will sell the portfolio in northern Santa Clara County and San Jose.
The added territory was a boon for Markstein, which received a termination notice from Constellation Brands in early 2022. Constellation also terminated Visalia-based Bueno Beverage Company at the same time. Together, Markstein and Bueno sold about 4 million case equivalents of Constellation products (Modelo, Corona, Pacifico).
In September 2022, Sierra Nevada terminated Markstein Sales Co., Imperial-based Alford Distributing and Milpitas-based Bottomley Distributing Co. as the Chico, California-headquartered craft brewery aligned with the Reyes Beverage Group.