Industry challenges cause job cuts at Breakthru Beverage
US distributor Breakthru Beverage Group has held a strategic review of its business, resulting in hundreds of layoffs, a source has confirmed to SB.
CEO and president Tom Bené sent out a letter last week to colleagues, outlining the group’s intent to restructure its business as the alcohol industry continues to face challenges.
A source within Breakthru Beverage has confirmed the validity of the letter to The Spirits Business, and that while exact numbers couldn’t be specified, layoffs have been made “somewhere in the 500 range”.
In the letter, Bené explained that “shifting consumer preferences, economic pressures, and evolving marketplace dynamics” were placing sustained pressure on the group, which had led to its executive leadership team to carry out a “strategic review of the overall business”.
“Through this review, we identified areas where we needed to rethink our structure both at the market level and in the areas that support the markets, to better meet current and future business needs,” Bené wrote, adding that the company “evaluated multiple paths forward, considered the impact on our suppliers, customers, and associates, and did everything possible to minimise the impacts to our people”.
Bené noted the review’s focus was on “reimagining the work, improving our ways of working, leveraging technology more effectively and ensuring our resources are aligned to where they create the greatest value”.
Specifics details on the restructure such as locations affected were not given.
Breakthru’s US operations covers 16 markets: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC , Wisconsin and Connecticut through an affiliate.
The Spirits Business approached Breakthru Beverage for clarity on the reports but the company did not respond to several requests for comment.
The US distributor employs more than 10,000 associates, according to its website.
Breakthru’s restructure comes as serious recalibration takes place in North America.
Last year, the US spirits distribution landscape saw a major shake up with the second biggest distributor in the country, Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC), also making job cuts and exiting its business in California.
The move saw Breakthru sign a distribution partnership with Chopin Imports in California.
Meanwhile, Reyes Beverage Group, the largest beer distributor in the US, is now in advanced talks to take over RNDC’s operations in seven states, as RNDC shrinks its US business.
Yesterday (25 February), the biggest spirits distributor in the US, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (SGWS), also announced that it will be reducing its workforce.
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