“ 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.”
– Justin Fisch, CEO of US Beverage
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
14 Beverage Wholesaler • Spring 2026 www. beveragewholesaler. com