“If it were a more geographically extensive market, without the density of population, the time between stops, the number of cases dropped per stop would probably be at a level that would make it unsustainable for us to operate,” Storey notes.Ī handful of single- and double-axle box trucks, as well as a couple of cargo vans, get the job done for Harpoon Distributing Co.īeyond operational efficiencies, there are definite sales and marketing advantages for Harpoon. The company reaches a lot more retail customers over a much shorter geographic distance than in many other metro areas. In fact, it’s the city’s dense population that provides a logistical advantage for Harpoon to manage its own distribution there. “But in the morning, in some cases, on some routes drivers are going against the traffic - outbound from the city and vice versa at the end of the day. “Boston is certainly a congested city, an old city, so the traffic patterns don’t conform to modern grids and the highways and infrastructure are old and stressed,” Storey explains. Having a home base smack in the middle of an urban center like Boston - Harpoon’s headquarters is in the city’s Seaport District - brings its own set of challenges. There are a lot of ways to get those, but if you can’t deliver on operational efficiencies, it’s probably not sustainable.”ĭistribution, he continues, is not a simple process of getting a keg or a case from point A to point B, but a complex suite of services that encompasses sales, merchandising, relationship management, troubleshooting, accounting and a host of other tasks. It’s an operation that requires operational efficiencies. “It’s actually its own independent enterprise and has to be managed that way. “It’s not simply an extension of brewing,” he says. He advises that any brewer pondering self-distribute (in states that allow it) must recognize that distributing beer is a completely different business than producing it and should operate as such. Someone who works on the distribution side doesn’t do things like packaging, brewing and filtering.” ![]() There’s no overlap between tasks on either side. “There’s spatial overlap, if you will, but is an independent entity. It does not store any personal data.“It’s managed out of the same building,” Storey notes. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". ![]() These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. ![]() Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The Leviathan Double IPA (at 10% abv) is a true monster - though maltier than you’d expect - but my ultimate favorite, by far, was Harpoon Rich & Dan’s Rye IPA, a spicy/piney beer with nice bite and good balance of fruit and hops.ĭefinitely recommended - and don’t miss the pretzels, which are house-made with grains used to make the company’s beers. I managed to sample a very broad selection of what was on tap that day, from the perfectly credible (and well-stocked) Harpoon IPA to the limited edition Citra Victorious Barrel Series, made exclusively with orangey Citra hops. Of course, everyone’s favorite time is the tasting room, where you get about 20 minutes to essentially drink all the Harpoon beer you can from little 2 oz. If you’ve been on one brewery tour you probably know what to expect, though being able to taste the barley that Harpoon uses to make its beers is a fun little touch. Harpoon built a massive beer hall here in South Boston last year, which you can take in after spending 30 minutes or so strolling through the production facility and hearing a little bit about how Harpoon makes its various brews. but which still feels like a happy, family operation. Headed to Boston? Take a little trip to Harpoon Brewery, which is now the 14th largest brewery in the U.S.
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