Beer Marketer's Insights - Stone Dist Has 3 of Top 10 Craft Cos in San Diego Scans; Pizza Port & Coronado Were Top Gainers; LA a Longer Haul

Hand Family Cos' acquisitions of Stone Dist and Classic instantly will make it a major craft beer distrib in SoCal, especially in San Diego. Stone Dist has three of the top 10 craft brewers in San Diego craft, led by Stone Brewing still #1 by a longshot, Pizza Port rising to #5 craft co (with the #4 craft brand family) and Coronado #9 in 2024 San Diego Circana multi-outlet + convenience data. Those 3 cos alone have over 1/4 of craft beer $$ and over 5 share of total beer $$ in San Diego scans. Stone still held a whopping 16.6 share of craft and 3.4 share of beer $$. And Pizza Port (+24%) and Coronado (+20%) sales grew more than any other craft suppliers in the city. Pizza Port rose 1.25 pts to over 6 share of San Diego craft $$ (1.2 share of beer). Coronado gained 0.7 pts to 4 share of craft (0.8 share of beer). Lots More Craft Plus JuneShine, AriZona/Jumex, Big Sipz & More That's just the very top craft brands too. Harland Brewing is another sizable, growing local brand in the city carried by Classic Dist of San Diego. Joint books of Stone and Classic also include Societe, Topa Topa, Modern Times, Russian River, Mother Earth, Maui, Alvarado Street, Fort Point, Shiner/Trumer and 21st Amendment among others.Some of Stone Dist's other largest suppliers are beyond beer cos, including JuneShine (JuneShine only, Flying Embers brands are with Reyes), Ferolito, Voltaggio & Sons' AriZona hard tea and Jumex hard nectar, and smaller but fast-growing Big Sipz from Patco Brands. As it pushed further beyond beer in recent yrs it has an array of hard cider cos, local and regional craft, other beyond beer brands and various NAs. Trends vary significantly from co to co, but altogether, Stone & Classic combo is already sizable in San Diego.Not as Strong in Los Angeles: Stone Declined 12% in 2024 Scans, #6 Craft Co; Pizza Port Rose to #9 Los Angeles mkt is far less established for Stone Dist, and while Classic's NA portfolio helps add scale (see below), that mkt seemingly will be a longer haul for Hand Family Co to build more substantially. For instance, Stone $$ sales declined 10% in Los Angeles scans last year vs 2023, slipping to #6 craft supplier in the city. It still has 8 share of craft and 0.8 share of total beer in LA Circana MULC. Meanwhile, Pizza Port isn't as established in LA. While it grew even faster in LA scans, up 31%, it's just 2.35 share of craft and 0.2 share of total beer $$ there.Classic NA Portfolio Sports Stronger Innovation Platform in Post-Haralambos Environment For NAs, Classic essentially has served as successor to Haralambos Beverage house that, in its heyday under principal Tony Haralambos, incubated key brands like Snapple, Vitaminwater and Body Armor and was go-to spot for innovative new brands, much as Big Geyser is on opposite coast, in NY (as our sibling pub Beverage Business INSIGHTS wrote). In early days of coconut water, for instance, Haralambos had all 3 of the new general-market wave comprised of Vita Coco, Zico and ONE, immediately establishing a credible-looking set at retail to coax wary shoppers to try them. But the house eventually started to wind down and sold to Classic, which in recent years has hived off its beer brands and narrowed its focus to NAs.That's come at a tradeoff: the loss of alc bev volume has weakened its retail clout and drop sizes, and some brands got restless. Occasionally, when we encounter Tony Haralambos at trade shows, he's surrounded by brand owners urging him back into DSD in LA, tho he insists he's content working with family members to operate warehouse network called Alta that's in high demand. Still, suppliers give Classic prexy Michael Blumfield solid marks for operating house in more rigorous way since his ascension to post 2 years ago and house maintains comprehensive roster straddling all key categories, with website listing Alani Nu/Prime, Black Rifle Coffee, Poppi, Culture Pop, Essentia, Eternal Water, Sparkling Ice, La Croix, Hop WTR, Hoplark, Jones Soda, Lemon Perfect, Karma, Fiji, Calypso Lemonade, Clean Cause Energy, Gorilla Energy, Recess, Reed's/Virgil's, St James Iced Tea, Good2Grow, Campbell's V8, 100 Coconuts, Amino Lean, Aura Bora, Brew Dr Kombucha, No Cap Soda, Nocco Energy, Yerbae and NA beers Partake and RationAle. Tho some of those brands likely to be on the move, especially Poppi following its sale to Pepsi. Unclear if Celsius will move Alani Nu into Pepsi network or keep its primarily beer distrib route to mkt.

Stone Dist Has 3 of Top 10 Craft Cos in San Diego Scans; Pizza Port & Coronado Were Top Gainers; LA a Longer Haul

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