Wine and spirits distributor Martignetti Companies has struck a deal to acquire Massachusetts-based beer wholesaler Quality Beverage, the companies announced today in a press release.
Taunton-headquartered Quality Beverage, which operates distribution facilities in Auburn and Chicopee, sells more than 400 brands including the the Anheuser-Busch InBev and Constellation Brands portfolios, as well as national and regional craft brands such as New Belgium, Shiner, Sierra Nevada, Harpoon, SweetWater and Ballast Point. Quality also carries local craft offerings from Bent Water, Wormtown and 67 Degrees. Non-beer offerings in the distributor’s book include Liquid Death, Hop Wtr and Beatbox.
Quality’s territory spans the southern half of Western and Central Massachusetts and continues south along the Rhode Island border. In total, Quality serves 3,200 accounts across 137 towns with a combined population of 2.3 million people, according to its website.
“For almost 30 years, it has been one of the great joys of my life to own and lead this incredible company of incredible people,” Quality president and CEO Conrad Wetterau said in the release. “Soon, my chapter will end and a new one will begin with the Martignetti family, and I feel confident that I have put all of our people in the best of hands going forward ensuring Quality Beverage‘s future, financial strength, and ability to grow.”
The Wetterau family founded a family grocery business in 1869, and entered beverage-alcohol distribution in 1994 with the acquisition of Quality Beverage. The wholesaler acquired Auburn-based Consolidated Beverage in 2013, and Chicopee-based Williams Distributing in 2019. Those deals made Quality the largest A-B distributor in Massachusetts with a total of 9.7 million case equivalents, according to a conversation Brewbound had with Wetterau in 2019.
Martignetti is the sixth-largest wine and spirits distributor in the U.S. and the largest in New England, where it operates in every state except Connecticut.
“We are excited to add Quality Beverage to our company and to welcome their talented team,” principals Carl and Carmine Martignetti said in the release. “We have known the Wetterau family for nearly three decades and have admired the values and commitments they have practiced every day in their company with employees, customers, and suppliers. We are committed to build upon that legacy and to provide new growth opportunities for the company and all those associated with it.”
No closing date or financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval.