Golden Brands – the Reyes Beverage Group’s Northern California subsidiary – has acquired rights to the Constellation Brands and Sierra Nevada portfolios from Sacramento-based Markstein Beverage Co.
“We have great relationships with our suppliers across the state and are excited for the opportunity to grow our local NorCal footprint with Constellation and Sierra Nevada,” a Reyes spokesperson said in a statement to Brewbound. “We’re thankful to [Markstein president and CEO] Hayden Markstein and team for their partnership and consideration.”
The deal involves 6 million cases, Beer Marketer’s Insights reported. Markstein’s territory stretches from the edge of the Bay Area east to Lake Tahoe and north to Chico. The 104-year-old wholesaler’s portfolio includes offerings from Anheuser-Busch InBev and craft brands Alaskan, Firestone Walker, Ballast Point, and Russian River, among others.
Constellation – which imports popular Mexican brands Modelo, Corona and Pacifico – has terminated wholesaler relationships throughout California in favor of Reyes for several years, beginning with the San Diego-based Markstein Beverage Co. in 2018. Those moves coincided with Reyes’ tear of acquisitions throughout the state, starting with DBI Beverage in Northern California in July 2019. DBI became Golden Brands, and Reyed bolted on several other wholesalers in 2020 and 2021.
Chico-headquartered Sierra Nevada began shaking up its California wholesaler network in 2021, when it terminated South San Francisco-based Matagrano Inc. to shift its rights to Golden Brands in part of Matagrano’s territory. In September 2022, Sierra Nevada terminated Antioch-based Markstein Sales Co. (a separate entity from Markstein Beverage Co.), Imperial-based Alford Distributing and Milpitas-based Bottomley Distributing Co.
The loss of the volume that Constellation’s portfolio drives has been problematic for the independent A-B houses that have been served with “black roses” over the years. Last year, Constellation’s termination caused Visalia-based Bueno Beverage to lay off 46 employees.
More than half of the beer sold in California flows through the Reyes network, Beer Marketer’s Insights VP and executive editor David Steinman reported during a presentation on the state of California beer industry at the inaugural conference of the California Family Beer Distributors (CFBD) in November 2022.
Driving Reyes’ success in California is Constellation’s portfolio, which sells nearly as much as both Anheuser-Busch InBev’s and Molson Coors’ portfolios combined in California scan data, Steinman said.
The CFBD was formed in 2020 in response to middle-tier consolidation in the state, driven by Reyes’ acquisitions.