US alcohol distributor Southern Glazer’s is poised to drop ‘wines & spirits’ from its name next month, Global Drinks Intel can exclusively reveal.
The privately-owned company – formed in 2016 when Southern Wine & Spirits merged with Glazer’s – will become Southern Glazer’s Beverage Co. The group cited its growing focus on additional categories, such as beer, as the reason for making the change.
Speaking to Global Drinks Intel last month, CEO Wayne Chaplin said: “We’ll be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the merger between Southern Wine & Spirits and Glazer’s in July. At that point, we’ll change the name of our company to Southern Glazer’s Beverage Co.
“These lines have been crossed: We are no longer just a wine and spirits company.”
The distributor’s commercial sales president, Mark Chaplin, added: “People think of us as new to the beer, non-alc and RTD industries, but we’ve actually been doing it at a smaller scale for many years in Nevada, South Carolina and a couple of other markets. Now, we’ll do over 60m cases of these types of products across our network.
“Hopefully, that shows how committed we are to the space.”
Last week, Southern Glazer’s completed the acquisition of New York distributor Clare Rose, a deal that was announced in March. The division will henceforth be known as Southern Glazer’s Beverage Co of New York.
