Italian beer brand Birra Moretti is rapidly climbing the ranks within the U.S. The brew has experienced 40 consecutive months of growth throughout the nation after its import rights were acquired in 2023, leading to the return of draught kegs in the U.S. market by late 2024.
Moretti’s success can be attributed to strong marketing and playing up its Italian heritage, as well as being a refreshing beverage.
And this is all thanks to US Beverage’s guidance.
After the importer began working with Moretti in 2023, the beer brand has continued to grow and make its way across the U.S. Now currently available in 38 states, US Beverage’s goal is to keep that momentum going.
“Moretti’s growth can really be attributed to the fact that we focused on the basics and then expanded to a national footprint,” says Justin Fisch, CEO of US Beverage. “Moretti is owned by Heineken, so we work very closely with the Heineken regional and marketing teams to set the guidelines on how best to grow this brand. It’s a very collaborative process.”
US Beverage works closely with all the brands they represent, forming solid relationships that not only help to get a route-to-market strategy going, but keep it successful.
The Power of Personal: Making Every Connection Count
Founded in 1997 and celebrating its 29th year as an importer, US Beverage has become a leading independent U.S. beer importer over the years due to its stellar sales, marketing and distribution of international beer brands, domestic craft beers and spirits, ciders and alcohol-free specialty brands.
Due to their knowledge and experience in the beer market, US Beverage is currently the largest independent beer importer in the nation and seventh largest of all U.S. beer importers.
Their secret to success? The personal relationships they’re able to build with each brand they represent.
“Many of our brand relationships are longstanding and over 10 years in the making,” Fisch says. “When we look to find partners, we look for long-term partnerships. We’ve learned that the short-term two- or three-year contract doesn’t work, so now we’re in it for the long run.”
It takes a lot to invest in brands to help them succeed, and US Beverage puts their heart and soul into representing their customers.
“We’re not perfect by any means, but we’ve been very successful in finding the right people to work with that we can trust, and they trust us back,” Fisch adds. “We have a mutual respect for one another on the business side, which in turn bleeds into the personal side, as well.”
There’s no denying that the beer industry is in a drought. The Brewers Association estimates craft volume down 5% year-over-year compared to 2024.
Consumers are drinking less alcohol across the board, and even when they are drinking, they’re less likely to choose beer. But that’s not stopping US Beverage from helping scale the beer brands they represent.
“There will always be industry challenges, and we’re honest and upfront with our supplier partners. I think they respect that because we don’t come with problems, we come with solutions,” shares Dan DeLuca, EVP of beer and spirits sales and marketing at US Beverage.
DeLuca is one of the 55 employees at US Beverage, and one of the few that works directly with the company’s brand partners to help boost their presence.
“If they aren’t in their infancy stage of a startup, brands come to us because they’ve been in the market for a while, having gone through different strategies and routes-to-market, and have come to the conclusion that they need a different resource to go to market,” DeLuca adds. “And that’s why a lot of brands look at USB ─ because of the infrastructure that we have in place.”
US Beverage has a turnkey infrastructure that can penetrate the three-tier system effectively from a sales standpoint, a marketing standpoint and a back house logistics standpoint. Brands see this and are taking note.
Tailored Campaigns
Working alongside DeLuca is Peter Damato, senior brand and marketing director at US Beverage. The two of them help lead the charge when it comes to brewing up successful marketing tactics to help brands succeed.
At the heart of US Beverage’s marketing strategy for each brand is the personal relationships they are able to build.
“A big part of the alcohol and beer business is partnerships and relationships,” Damato says. “That’s one thing we strive to really hone in on at USB. It’s important for us to develop those relationships, not only on the business side, but the personal side, too.”
Constant communication is key for keeping those relationships strong. No matter where US Beverage’s brand partners are located, the team always finds a way to stay in touch and meet up in person, wherever possible.
DeLuca explains that the company also has robust relationships with their distributor partners.
“We’re very in tune with our distributor partners and what’s happening at retail with consumer trends,” he says. “So, one of the things that we try to focus on through our distributor partners is to work closely with them to help make brands like Moretti and Airbender readily available for consumers’ discovery.”
Being close with distributors is key to getting the right distribution in the right accounts. Once US Beverage has that, they’re then able to create customized marketing programs to active consumers at the retail level.
“One of the things we do very well here at USA is not being a one-size-fits-all for our brand partners,” DeLuca says. “Our programs are fully customizable to really help brands drive additional revenue during difficult times. Consumers have a plethora of beverages to choose from, and we want to make sure that we’re diligent in giving our brands that opportunity.”
The Gateway to Expansion
Continuing its legacy of success, US Beverage just launched a subsidiary company called Gateway Beverage Group. This new independent organization helps domestic and international brands efficiently enter, operate and scale within the U.S. market.
Freshly launched in January of this year, Gateway Beverage is a beverage services and consulting platform that helps brands with all their regulatory infrastructure, logistics and strategic advisory service’s needs.
“If we are approached by a potential partner that isn’t a fit for our broader sales team to be selling to distributors and retailers, or maybe they’re just looking for back-office services, Gateway Beverage Group can now service those companies,” Fisch says. “We will do all of the back-end work to help get the brand to a sizable volume position, and then eventually we would consider folding them into the US Beverage portfolio.”
Leading Gateway Beverage is Ken Aufiero, vice president and general manager, who was previously the director of spirits at US Beverage. Aufiero brings more than two decades of sales, marketing, distributor and supplier experience in the wine and spirits industry, working for companies such as Bacardi, Fedway Associates and Proximo Spirits.
“The team has been discussing this concept for quite some time because there is definitely a need in the marketplace for something like this,” Aufiero says. “This is an opportunity for us to offer additional services to brands. Especially when dealing with foreign-based producers, we bring that expertise to help them with the registration processes in each state.”
Brands partnering with Gateway can choose from modular services that scale by market and brand maturity to customize their launch and rollout in the U.S. The independent organization also offers a host of on-demand consulting services, which brands may engage individually or as part of an integrated solution.
“Gateway will be the ideal incubator for brands seeking to enter and grow in the all-important US market,” Aufiero says. “We take the complexity out of the process and enable brands to focus on what they do best. Then, when the time is right, we can make the introduction to the broader USB portfolio and national network.”
US Beverage Expands Brand Reach
While helping brands scale is US Beverage’s chief focus, adding Gateway Beverage under its umbrella also allows the company to tap into additional popular markets, such as alcohol-free and delta-9 hemp-infused beverages.
“We’re currently expanding our outreach in the ready-to-drink (RTD) space, which continues to grow,” Fisch mentions. “We’re also looking to be aggressive in the no-alcohol, THC and CBD space, as well. There are a lot of great brands and beverage companies out there looking for service, and I hate turning down brands because they’re not a good fit for our US Beverage services. Gateway Beverage is the solution that allows us to help some of these great brands.”
Two of US Beverage’s alcohol-free brands include Daura Non-Alc and Erdinger Non-Alcoholic. Due to this category’s increasing popularity, Fisch says they plan on adding more brands to the company’s portfolio.
“The better-for-you beverage category is skyrocketing, especially the gluten-free category. It doesn’t slow down,” he notes. “Part of that better-for-you trend is gluten intolerance alongside gluten-free diets, which continue to expand, especially in high-end grocers like Whole Foods.”
And because of US Beverage’s diverse portfolio, they have the ability to get smaller brands still in their infancy out into the market with the right distributors.
“We have a very diverse portfolio, not just on the beer and spirits side, but also on the Delta-9 and better-for-you beverages side,” DeLuca says. “The diversity in our portfolio is what makes distributors attracted to us and want to do business with us. Instead of needing to work with different suppliers for different beverages, we are their one-stop-shop.”
With how rapidly the Delta-9 hemp-infused beverages space is growing, US Beverage is preparing to help distributors meet this demand. By April 1st, 2025, the company will have five Delta-9 brands ready to go to market.
“A lot of these Delta-9 companies are trying to go to market independently and have recognized just how costly this can be, so we’re offering them the opportunity to go to market and build an infrastructure on the sales, marketing and back house side of the business,” DeLuca says. “We already have the infrastructure in place to help these brands get into the right markets where it’s legal.”
US Beverage also has all the connections and relationships with the gatekeepers at certain distributors, allowing them to get brands through the door that otherwise wouldn’t be given the time of day.
“We can get those gatekeepers to get us a spot at the table and make a presentation on behalf of our supplier partners,” DeLuca adds.
