Each day, millions of Americans rely on food and beverage delivery. This aspect of Food and Beverage logistics includes beer and alcohol distribution. Yet the guidelines for brewery vary drastically from state to state on who is allowed to transport, move, and sell alcoholic beverages. According to The International Wine and Spirits Record, an industry research firm, shows that in alcohol e-commerce in the US grew by 42% in 2020 and is on track to become the largest beverage market in the world by 2024. While much of that growth can be attributed to the massive gains in last-mile delivery and residential alcohol delivery, there’s another side to the change.
Greater customer demand in the market inevitably puts more demand on the retailers and resellers of beers and alcohol. As a result, more beer distribution companies and breweries are re-evaluating their existing strategies to figure out how to increase throughput without breaking the bank. That growth in the market will inevitably precipiate a greater demand for brewery distribution expertise and tailored solutions to identify and implement the best practices for transportation management. Let’s take a closer look at the primary challenge of brewery distribution and how a top-quality partner helps these companies streamline transportation.
Knowing how to legally manage and engage with shippers in brewery distribution is critical to maximizing transportation efficiency. The right logistics provider for the movement of commodities can help retailers, suppliers, and vendors handle beer distribution with minimal expense and issues.
From start to finish, the carriers selected can have a significant impact on how quickly and easily the shipments move. Turnkey services ensure that each and every craft beer distribution company gets their exact needs addressed. Beer and alcohol distriubtion requires careful planning and the ability to navigate around state laws and local ordinances. Managed services help companies figure out what’s needed and how to best implement it, especially as the market expands.
The need to better manage alcohol distribution is absolute, and while differing companies prioritize packaging, branding and quality, challenges within the transportation and distribution strategy will inevitably lead to major problems, including upset customers. However, today’s top craft brewery distribution company can successfully manage distribution by applying these best practices:
Keep everyone in the loop. Failure to share distribution load status updates will result in delays and problems with the downstream supply chain. Today’s shippers should have a clear resource for tracking each load and ensuring its timely delivery.
Choose a shipping partner carefully and well in advance based on their service record, performance, and reputation and needs. Using Turvo Analytics to measure the health of your partnering carriers is crucial to avoiding delays and damage to goods in craft beer distribution. Yet, part of the benefit of working with managed services is that Zengistics can handle this whole process on your behalf.
Make sure to use the proper trailer and truck type, and package and label all bottles and cans appropriately. Any plan for better alcohol distribution starts with better labeling and equipment use. In logistics, this includes ensuring that your goods are shipped via the right trailer and service level.
Track the real-time container status with the shipment’s context in mind. Distributors must use the latest tracking and tracing technology, and partner with industry experts in collaborative logistics. Further, tracking every load in the context of the current status, such as a shipment running late or ahead of schedule, is critical to avoiding issues and maximizing throughput.
For any craft beer distribution company, the right 3PL partner is essential to keeping all costs in check and knowing how to turn ethereal ideas into the best actual move.
Reasonable shipping and transportation are all about improving the customer experience and avoiding unnecessary costs. Remember that a craft beer distribution company is not necessarily a supply chain expert, but by establishing the right network partnerships, they can better understand and execute on their distribution strategies. Zengistics is backed by the assets of Trimac and the capabilities of Turvo’s collaborative logistics software. Contact Zengistics today for a quote and to get started.
Operating on the world’s first collaborative logistics platform, Zengistics is a technology company that executes freight.