SIC 5181: Beer and Ale Distribution - Encyclopedia of American Industries(Vol. 2: Agriculture, Mining, Construction, Wholesale, & Retail Industries. 6th ed.)Beer and ale wholesale distribution faced a number of challenges inherent to the evolving beer-industry structure in the late 2000s. Not only were major breweries consolidating and entering into joint ventures, they were attempting to streamline their delivery systems by integrating distributing into their businesses. In 2008, Belgian-Brazilian company InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch, the top beer brewer in the United States. Additionally, the second-and third-leading U.S. brewers, Miller and Coors, formed MillerCoors as a joint venture.
More than 2,200 Wholesale distributors in the United States in 2006 employed more than 106,000 people. Those distributors bought products from domestic suppliers including approximately 5,000 commercial wineries, 400 breweries, 1,400 microbreweries, and 80 liquor distillers in the late 2000s. Pennsylvania and New York were home to the most beer and ale merchant wholesalers in 2006, with 169 and 168, respectively, while 161 operated in California and 137 in Texas.