If you think everyone’s still obsessed with craft beer and California cabernets, the stats say something else entirely.
Americans are rethinking their relationship with booze, and the numbers don’t lie: Beer and wine sales are sliding. Wine, in particular, is at its least popular point in 30 years.
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Beer is not doing much better, especially craft beer. For four consecutive years the number of new brewery openings declined, with 434 new breweries opening and 501 closing in 2024.
Why?
People are more health-conscious, especially after the pandemic years when alcohol consumption was at concerning levels for many people. Now, “mindful drinking” is trending, and younger people are leaning into moderation or skipping alcohol altogether.
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“Why would I put that toxin my body?” my daughter’s boyfriend mused recently. He’s a personal trainer and takes his fitness and nutrition very seriously. I had a few good comebacks but I didn’t share them. Perhaps a discussion best had over a cold IPA?
Anyway, the “California sober” lifestyle, where people ditch alcohol but might still enjoy cannabis or just drink less, has gone mainstream.
Wine is synonymous with California, and one distributor’s defection could signal a bigger issue.
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Major alcohol distributor bids California goodbye
Maybe in part due to the drink-less trend, one of the biggest names in alcohol, and in wine distribution in particular, just announced it’s pulling out of California. For a state that’s basically synonymous with wine, this is a big deal.
Republic National Distributing Co., the nation’s second-largest alcohol wholesaler, announced last week that it will not do business in California after Sept. 2.
The news sent more than 2,500 beverage brands, including hundreds of winemakers, scrambling to find a new distributor in the state, as reported in The San Francisco Chronicle.
While the Grand Prairie, Texas-based Republic National has not suggested that politics played a role in the decision, the news may be resonating so widely in part because of the narrative it presents: A Texas company wants nothing to do with California.
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Republic CEO Bob Hendrickson cited “rising operational costs, industry headwinds, and supplier changes as reasons for the move,” per the Chronicle.
Recently Republic National Distributing Co. also reportedly lost the rights to sell popular spirits like Tito’s vodka, High Noon, Cutwater Spirits, and Jack Daniel’s, among others, which was likely a big financial blow to the company, according to VinePair.
VinePair also called the news “corporate catastrophe basically without precedent in the United States’ typically stable beverage-alcohol distribution business.”
The VinePair story further quotes Republic National employees as saying the Texas owners of the company were both arrogant and incompetent and thought they could do business in California the way they do in Texas.
What does Republic National Distributing Co.’s exit mean for the wine region?
So, what does this shakeup mean for California’s booze business?
It is seen as a wake-up call for the whole industry. California’s wine business has been hit hard by slumping sales and a new generation that’s reaching for canned cocktails, which are often lower in alcohol than beer or wine.
Spirits are definitely having a moment, so the party isn’t totally over. Ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails are everywhere, and even companies like Coca-Cola are jumping in. RTDs are convenient, lower in alcohol, and fit right in with the new, chill approach to drinking.
As for the companies being left behind in California, many wineries in California and distilleries will now try to jump onto the lists of the other two big distributors, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits or Breakthru Beverage Group.
