Case Study: Regional Brewery / Distributor
The Overview
Successful regional brewery with multiple revenue streams including Craft Brewing, Beverage Distribution with over 20 partner brands across two states, as well as onsite Hospitality functions.
Ownership’s core vision is to create a multi-faceted beverage company that competes successfully across several market segments utilizing their self-distribution model to drive growth.
With the global and local impacts of COVID-19, the business experienced significant losses in revenue challenging the ongoing operations of the business.
The Challenge
Given the impacts of COVID-19, all business areas experienced significant financial challenges requiring borrowing to remain viable creating a precarious debt position.
Our Process
Implementing a unique and comprehensive qualitative and quantitative 120-day analytical process, reviewed the sales function for brand performance, market penetration, and sales team capabilities.
The Conclusion
- The review process uncovered challenges: (1) shared resource model, (2) limited market penetration, and (3) poor sales team execution. Our analysis presented two potential options to solve:
- Invest in Sales – Not the optimal solution with near-term growth requirements, financial risk vs. reward in the near-term, and potential ownership dilution.
- Sell the Distribution Business – Optimal solutions to eliminate debt and raise capital to invest in brand growth and innovation while partnering with a professional distributor to drive brand building efforts in multiple markets.
The result
Brewery sold distributor rights to a national organization for a ”$ XX” million dollars.