American Craft Spirits Association » All Posts https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/forum/business/distribution/feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 10:16:43 +0000 https://bbpress.org/?v=2.6.4 en-US https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/washington-d-c-distribution/#post-13465 <![CDATA[Reply To: Washington, D.C. Distribution]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/washington-d-c-distribution/#post-13465 Fri, 10 May 2019 20:58:17 +0000 Old Trestle Used to work with Capitol Eagle out there. Not much success to speak of with them.

Good luck.

]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/bigfish-spirits/#post-13453 <![CDATA[Reply To: BigFish Spirits]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/bigfish-spirits/#post-13453 Thu, 09 May 2019 22:25:30 +0000 Paul Hletko I have no experience with them, but it seems they work with only non-Illinois distilleries and make their stuff available online for IL residents only. They don’t distribute to other retail or on prem, from what I can tell as a pure observer, and just sell to IL residents via mail. I’m sure its legit, but doubt its much volume. Probably better served getting a distributor? They do definitely clog up my facebook feed with ads suggesting I buy from them, for sure. I would also wonder what sort of volume they buy, if any, when you load in with them?

]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/bigfish-spirits/#post-13418 <![CDATA[BigFish Spirits]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/bigfish-spirits/#post-13418 Fri, 03 May 2019 21:35:52 +0000 Jeff Kanof Hi – Does Anyone have any experience working with BigFish online spirits retailer out of Illinois? If so, would you be willing to share some feedback on your experience thus far?

Cheers,
Jeff

]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/washington-d-c-distribution/#post-11553 <![CDATA[Washington, D.C. Distribution]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/washington-d-c-distribution/#post-11553 Tue, 08 Jan 2019 14:06:02 +0000 Mark A. Vierthaler Anyone in the Washington D.C. market have suggestions on a trustworthy distributor? Obviously you hear plenty of good and bad, but any guidance/suggestions is appreciated. All the best!

]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10606 <![CDATA[Reply To: Trial period for distributor?]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10606 Sat, 21 Jul 2018 00:45:29 +0000 Nate Powell That is a great idea, but I think it will depend a lot on the particular distributor. In my experience, some will require a contract and some won’t, but if they do there will likely but some severe penalties for getting out of it. I think the best thing to do is meet with as many potential distributors as you can and ask hard questions about performance expectations, etc.

]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10605 <![CDATA[Reply To: Trial period for distributor?]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10605 Sat, 21 Jul 2018 00:45:04 +0000 Jeff Kanof It can’t hurt to ask for something like that, but it may be tough to get a high-quality distributor to be willing to agree to such terms in a contract. They often want to make sure they get paid if you stop working with them since they invest a lot into helping grow your brand. As John hinted at, doing so without a written contract could be your best bet (as long as it is not a franchise state because then you’d obviously want a written contract). But, that could also be hard to get a good distributor to agree to. Not necessarily directly related to your question, but the recent issue of Artisan Spirit Mag has a pretty solid article that helps point out many things you should think about before starting a distribution agreement. Here is the link: https://issuu.com/artisanspiritmag/docs/artisanspirit_issue023_web/22

]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10601 <![CDATA[Reply To: Trial period for distributor?]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10601 Fri, 20 Jul 2018 15:11:40 +0000 John McKee Hey,

Great idea and it’ll come down to the contract (or lack thereof) that you sign. You may need to negotiate performance waterfalls, “if you sell this much, then we keep going…if not, then we can split ways” kind of language.

Cheers,
McKee

]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10596 <![CDATA[Trial period for distributor?]]> https://americancraftspirits.org/forums/topic/trial-period-for-distributor/#post-10596 Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:08:48 +0000 David Weglarz I’ve been self-distributing from the beginning, but now, ~5 years in, I’m looking at expanding into an actual 3rd party distributor to expand our footprint. I’m very hesitant because I can count on one hand the number of distillers I’ve talked to who are happy with their distributor.

I’m looking at initially running a 12-month trial period to see if the distributor is the right fit for us. Has anyone else done anything similar? Any other advice to offer in regards to potential pitfalls I should be addressing ahead of time? Metrics beyond bottle sales and % growth?

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