Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 19, 2024 15 results were not encouraging. "We found that a majority of craft distillers, 72%, have been seeking distribution in one or more states, but most of them, 51%, have been turned down, and 22% have entirely given up looking," she said. LeLaneia Dubay, of Hartford Flavor, said the pandemic also took a toll on her distillery's distribution efforts. "We lost some traction in some states because we actually couldn't go there to sell," she said. In addition to Connecticut, Hartford Flavor distributes its products in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Montana, North Dakota, Colorado and California. Tom Dubay said the ability to ship directly to consumers would help, "because the real challenge for small distilleries is a lack of avenues into wholesalers." Wholesale distributors will often "take a shot" on a distiller within the state "because they're confident that a brand will work hard in their own surroundings," he said. "But for the smaller distillery to invest in sales and marketing folks in farther-away places, it's a little difficult." Tourist attractions Stelios Stavrianos, founder and CEO of Waterbury-based The CoreBev Group — which in February acquired Continuum Distilling, also in Waterbury, and rebranded it as Connecticut Distilling — says allowing distilleries to ship direct to consumers would be "game-changing." "It doesn't make any sense," Stavri- anos said. "Why can wine be shipped out nationally, with virtually zero limitations, but spirits can't?" He believes the issue boils down to money. "There's a lot of money that's being made right now by a couple of key (distributors)," Stavrianos said. "You can ship nationally, but you have to sign on with one of the major national distributors." The CoreBev Group has been actively expanding in the past couple of years. The acquisition of Continuum was its second in two years, following its purchase of Connecticut-based The Cocktail Chemist Bev Co. last year. Overall, the combined company employs 19 people, Stavrianos said. In May of last year, CoreBev also announced the release of Kavo, described as the world's first Greek rum. It is sold in Greece and Australia, as well as in Connecticut, New York, Texas and Massachusetts in the U.S., and in Ontario and British Columbia in Canada. Stavrianos said it's actually harder to add U.S. states for distribution than it is to expand internationally, because each state has its own set of laws. "New York might be in the top three of the hardest states to get into," he said. "We've grown internationally more than we've grown into New York, if you could believe that." Tom Dubay, of Hartford Flavor, said craft distilleries appear to be on a similar path to what craft breweries experienced over the past 10 or 15 years. After seeing a spike in new craft breweries in Connecticut, the "industry is starting to reach some level of maturity, there are ones that have gone by the wayside for different reasons," Dubay said. "In Connecticut, we've lost a few (breweries), we've gained a handful. There's a little bit of a churn now, whereas 10 years ago everybody was brand new and nobody had gone away yet." He and his wife say the state could support craft spirit distilleries in a couple of additional ways, including allowing satellite tasting rooms and mobile bars. At their core, all distilleries, brew- eries and wineries are based on tourism, the Dubays said. "To have a satellite tasting room during the summertime down in Mystic, that would be a great thing," Tom Dubay said. He noted that Cooperstown, New York, last year had a collaborative satellite tasting room, where "two or three distill- eries at a time could do marketing and sales." "We're a manufacturer, but we're also tourism," LeLaneia Dubay added. "Tourism is the key to be able to get people to come in." Waterbury-based Connecticut Distilling, formerly known as Continuum Distilling, was acquired by the The CoreBev Group earlier this year. It makes Fort Hill, a bourbon. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Stelios Stavrianos

• Cover