San Diego’s Coronado Brewing and Stone Distributing recently announced a distribution partnership for Southern California. Coronado joins a lineup of 40 other brands in the Stone portfolio, which range from beer to cider to hard kombucha and other categories.

Press release:

Regional Powerhouse Coronado Brewing Joins Stone Distributing’s Diverse SoCal Portfolio

Beginning this December, Stone Distributing Company will distribute the brands of Coronado Brewing Company in Southern California. Stone Distributing Co. will represent Coronado Brewing’s brands in territories including San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, as well as large portions of San Bernadino and Riverside County.

“Coronado Brewing is a phenomenal addition and a seamless fit to the Stone Distributing portfolio,” explained Brian Fried, Stone Distributing’s newly appointed General Manager. “Coronado is a quintessential SoCal brand with a passionate fan base that’s growing fast. Stone Distributing has the team and the infrastructure to help propel that growth. We’re honored to partner with this iconic brand.”

Coronado’s sales are currently up 20+% year-to-date thanks in large part to the company’s two hottest brands, Weekend Vibes IPA and Salty Crew Blonde Ale, both of which earned recent GABF medals in 2019 and 2020. Weekend Vibes ranks as the 8th best-selling India Pale Ale in SoCal, up 18.2%, claiming the highest growth trends of the top ten IPAs in that category. It’s counterpart, Salty Crew Blonde, ranks as the third best-selling Blonde/Golden Ale in SoCal, more than doubling total sales year over year at +121.4%.

Stone Distributing has demonstrated outsized performance as it continues to gain share in the highly competitive SoCal market. Recent Nielsen data (last 13 weeks ending 10/29/22) shows Stone Distributing up 1.7 points of market share, growing to 12.8% of the total craft/FMB/Hard Seltzer market in Southern California.

With both organizations trending in a positive direction, the partnership looks to be set up for immediate and sustained growth for the Coronado portfolio of brands.

“Stone Distributing has a proven track record and is highly regarded by our retailers,” says Coronado Brewing Chief Commercial Officer, Clinton Smith. “We’re both ready to win and we see 2023 as a big opportunity to grow our business further into all channels. With an aligned vision, we are looking forward to a long-term partnership with the Stone Distribution team next year and well into the future.”

About Coronado Brewing Company

In 1996, when craft beer was still a foreign term and San Diego County was home to only a handful of breweries, the Chapman brothers Ron and Rick opened a brewpub in their hometown of Coronado. Today CBC stays true to its San Diego roots, brewing abundantly hoppy West Coast-style ales, which are available today in 14 US states and 12 countries. In addition to the long-established pub in Coronado, the company opened a tasting room inside its San Diego production facility in 2013, and a tasting room and restaurant in Imperial Beach, California in 2014. Coronado Brewing Company was honored in 2014 with one of the brewing industry’s most prestigious awards—World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster for a Mid-Size Brewing Company, and more recently, a bronze medal at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival for its Weekend Vibes IPA (American IPA category, 362 entries), a 2020 silver medal for its Salty Crew Blonde Ale, and a 2021 gold medal for its Palm Sway IPA.

About Stone Distributing Co.

Stone Distributing was founded in the spirit of craft camaraderie. When no distributor in the late 90’s would accept Stone Brewing’s hop-forward beers, the brewery self-distributed and brought along other specialty and craft brands as well. It is now among the largest independent distributors of craft-only beverages in the country. SDC became a standalone distributor, independent of Stone Brewing in 2022. The distributor is known for its investment in growing brands within a diverse portfolio including craft beer, hard kombucha, hard seltzers, hard coffee and more. SDC operates warehouses in San Marcos, CA and Downey, CA and services nearly all of Southern California. For a list of brands distributed by the company, visit StoneDistributing.com/craft-brands.