Emerging retail trends are changing the customer experience, and the food and beverage landscape is no different. Today’s consumers are faced with an ever-growing amount of options when it comes to beverages, and as a result, they expect complex offerings and categories wherever they go. Continue on to learn more about the current U.S. distributorship environment in regard to the beverage industry.

What Is a Distributorship?

Whereas a distributor works as an independent selling agent, a distributorship is defined as a franchise granted by a manufacturer to market its goods. These products are usually sold at wholesale in a particular region. For instance, as one of the largest beverage wholesalers in the U.S., Columbia Distributing offers an extensive inventory of brands to restaurants, bars and other establishments throughout the Pacific Northwest.

How Are Distributorships Changing the Beverage Landscape?

Distributorships, like Columbia Distributing, pride themselves on their offerings, and in this competitive marketplace, they need to offer a wide selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. To keep up with market trends, Columbia Distributing has recently moved to purchase Oregon-based General Distributors and Marine View Beverage. With these acquisitions, we’ll be better positioned to offer our customers even more beverage options, so they can stock up on what their customers actually want.

Besides evolving consumer preferences, growing product variety and market consolidation, the current U.S. beverage distributorship landscape has been largely shaped by new technologies. To run a smarter, more cost-effective business, Columbia Distributing has taken a data-driven approach to developing our portfolio. At the moment, health and wellness drinks, like kombucha, coconut water and tea, are driving sales in the non-alcoholic segment, while hard seltzer has been making waves in the alcoholic beverage sector. Using these and other insights gained by our holistic approach to business development, we can shift our portfolio architecture to better meet our customers’ needs.

Make Columbia Distributing Your Full-Service Distributor

At Columbia Distributing, our portfolio of brands means you don’t have to use multiple suppliers to get the variety your customers demand. To learn how Columbia Distributing can fulfill all of your beverage needs, contact us today.