1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

A little more than 3 yrs ago, when Reyes Bev Group looked to hire Kyle Dean as president of RBG spirits, ceo Tom Day told him "we're going to build a spirits company." Kyle asked: "What brands do you have?" Tom said: "None," as Tom recounted at our Spring Conference. Fast-forward to Jun 2026, following deal to buy RNDC in 10 states and DC, and "we'll be over 60 million cases in wine and spirits now," Tom said. In a deal that just closed on May 29, RBG added 38 mil cases of wine and spirits, over 600 suppliers, 20,000 SKUs and 5200 employees in one fell swoop. That deal alone amounted to an additional $4+ bil in revs, Tom said. It's the "biggest deal" Reyes has done, noted Tom. Add that to around 30 mil cases of wine and spirits it already had, including another big chunk added just last yr in CA, and Reyes will now be between $6-7 bil in revs in wine and spirits, INSIGHTS estimates.RBG Led Change; Radical Alteration of Wine and Spirits Distribution Landscape Suddenly, Reyes is already the #3 wine and spirits distrib, Tom pointed out. In 3 years! That's a staggering and unprecedented accomplishment, greatly accelerated first by RNDC's implosion in CA and then its national unraveling. RNDC was the #2 wine and spirits distrib and its natl revs peaked at over $12 bil. But after a series of deals (including with other primarily beer distribs Columbia, Manhattan, and Quality), RNDC will be down to a select few states. Speed and scope of RBG's transformation undeniably led the change, amounting to a radical alteration of wine and spirits distribution. Now RBG not far from being #2 in wine and spirits distribution. "Give me a couple of months," Tom cracked at our conference.So Reyes Beverage Group now a combo of the largest beer distrib (as it's been for decades) and the #3 wine and spirits distrib. That "doesn't exist anywhere else in the world," said Tom, and "something we wanted to bring to life." One big difference compared to beer: the Reyes family built the beer distribution biz patiently thru many deals over 50 yrs. RBG currently sells 320 mil cases of beer as Tom pointed out, generating revs between $8-9 bil. Yet in just 3 yrs, RBG's wine and spirits biz a mere couple bil behind its beer distribution biz, heading higher.Reyes Family Approach to Building Bizzes Tom gave a succinct description of the Reyes family's approach to building bizzes: "you get into it, you learn it, find a way to get better at it, then you scale it." In case of wine and spirits distribution, this "model" started in CA. "We got in early with Sazerac" and "learned a lot." Then RBG got "involved in the wine business" and RTDs, then "we started scaling" with Brown-Forman, Tito's, William Grant and ultimately Gallo. That was a proving ground before this latest much larger RNDC deal. Yet in CA, RBG combined wine and spirits biz with beer biz, as "size of our business there is considerable, but it's with under 10 suppliers" and "under 1,000 SKUs." So RBG has "ability to put" beer, wine and spirits "on one truck&hellip; across our 23 warehouses, because it's a small, tight focused portfolio that gives us instant scale." With all the suppliers and SKUs it's adding in new mkts, RBG "made the decision to&hellip;operate" wine and spirits biz "separately" in these new mkts.Clearly, Reyes Holdings has a proven ability to scale. Recall, Reyes also built an enormous Coca-Cola bottling biz over the last decade or so, plus its Martin Brower biz, etc. In all, parent co Reyes Holdings is the 6th largest private co in the US, with $44 bil in revs and 42K employees. With the billions in revs it just added in wine and spirits, plus any organic growth, Reyes Holdings annualized revs now likely around $50 bil in its 50th yr. Not bad for a biz that started with the purchase of a small Schlitz distrib with 12 employees in Spartanburg, SC in 1976. It is an "American Dream," Tom said about the Reyes family and its story, and "they've built one hell of a company."Transformation Started With Convergence and Consumer But "Statewide Solution" Offers Oppys for Growth; Still Wants to Do Beer Deals This latest "transformational shift" is born of "convergence," said Tom, with a "model" that "we can be a total beverage provider" with a "portfolio that's going to meet the consumer at the point of purchase." Yet RNDC deal also points to plenty of avenues for additional growth. It "enables us to have a statewide solution, which is the biggest opportunity" noted Tom. That's a key part of "strategic rationale" because of "other opportunities that may potentially arise," he added. In other words, this deal positions RBG to be buyer for other wine and spirits brands, but also other beer distributors should they become available. RBG still definitely interested in getting bigger in beer, Tom assured and is looking at beer deals. "We believe in beer" and it's "critical to our business." It's "where the brothers started this" back in 1976. "It's in their blood" and "it's what got us here&hellip;. We're always going to be looking&hellip;. Make no mistake we want to get bigger in the beer business." The Reyes brothers "know the business inside and out," remain "involved every day" and that's a "competitive advantage," said Tom.

How Reyes Beverage Group Rose to Become #3 Wine and Spirits Distrib in 3+ Yrs

Publishing Info