Given that it’s been 75 years since Fred Nackard got into the beer wholesaling business in Flagstaff, Ariz., USA, this seems as good a time as any to look to the founder for a bit of contemporary wisdom. The words aren’t new, but their spirit remains fresh. In 2008, it falls to Fred’s son, Patrick, to deliver it, but that’s OK. Since 1933, two going on perhaps three generations of Nackards have been delivering beverages all over north central Arizona. Knowing how to deliver is a family trait.

“Since Repeal,” Pat Nackard relays his father’s New Deal-era motto, “A Good Neighbor.” Repeal isn’t exactly news anymore, but being neighborly never goes out of style.

“We believe that you need to provide quality products, back them with the best service possible, hire and train the right people and always give back to those communities that support us,” elaborates Nackard, the company’s president. It’s what his father, Fred, and his mother, Monica, were thinking when Prohibition came to an end and it’s what guides Nackard on the occasion of this diamond anniversary and toward the next 75 years.

It started with Fred and Monica running a business from the back of their rented house. It continues with the construction of a new distribution facility. It began when Monica’s car got traded in for the first Nackard truck. It winds on more than 3 million miles a year navigated. It commenced when it was thrilling that Arizonans could enjoy a legal sip of adult beverages. It rolls along with multiple portfolios that span alcohol and non-alcohol brands, encompassing Miller, Coors, E. & J. Gallo Winery, Pepsi, Heineken and a vending business to boot.

It changes because everything changes. It stays essentially the same because Nackard remains true to the roots of the Nackard Companies: “Being local, taking care of my customers and being part of my community.”
Call it the Nackard way. And say it works...’cause it does.

Not that there aren’t challenges after 75 years of wholesaling beer, bottling soft drinks and working hard. “The dog shows up every morning at the door, wanting to fight,” he says of the competition that’s a fact of beverage life. “If you don’t have that fire in the belly and go out and fight for shelf space and floor space and take something from somebody, nobody will give you anything. You have to take it. You need that kind of willingness or you won’t be successful.” Nackard’s competition comes under the banners of Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola, but that doesn’t faze him. “You can’t be afraid of ’em,” he says. “We’re every bit as aggressive and professional as they are.”
The alternative for anyone who doesn’t face up to the challenges that dog anyone competing in the beverage business, he muses, is to take the money and retire somewhere sunny. That, the 56-year-old Nackard makes clear, is not an option.

While happy to celebrate the milestone anniversary of the Nackard Companies—which encompasses Fred Nackard Wholesale (distribution of beer, wine and New Age); Nackard Bottling (which followed the beer business
into existence by two years and has been part of the Pepsi family since 1943) and Hi-Line Vending (a relative pup, founded in 1992)—Nackard and his approximately 300 employees are keeping an eye on all of their key constituencies.

• Brand marketers: “In relationships with your suppliers, you’re trying to find a fair balance of investment on both sides and fair margin equity. You can’t strengthen brands by financially weakening your distributor. We need to be profitable in order to invest in people and brands.”

• National customers: “Consolidation of the retail customer
is a challenge and we’re trying to meet the expectation of a consolidating retail environment. Again, you’re balancing
what the customer expects with what you can realistically and financially deliver.”

• Local customers: “Our business is in the rural market, not the urban markets, so it’s different from dealing with larger national customers. We have a philosophy for each class of customers. With the local, it’s
a more personal, relationship-building business.”

As a rule, Nackard adds, “SKU proliferation is out of control. I’d like to see less. What do we do with all of them? There’s not enough room on our customers’ shelves or in their cold boxes.” There are certainly enough of them to demand expansion in the form of a 50,000-square-foot distribution facility in Prescott, Ariz., USA. Representing an investment of US$4 million, the “state-of-the-art” plant will serve all three Nackard businesses, all of which are feeling the pinch from rising fuel prices. Sure, everybody is, but we’re talking about 3 million miles of fleet travel
(via leased delivery vehicles, which “frees up capital to invest in the business”) in some far-flung geography.

“It’s a big country up there,” Nackard advises. “A lot of miles, but not a lot of people.”

But wherever the people are, they know where to find the Nackard Companies and that’s fine with the president who hopes his son and daughter, both students at the moment, will continue the family tradition of not just selling beverages, but serving the community. “We get 10 to 12 e-mails every day from organizations requesting something,” he says. “Whether it’s the American Legion, the American Cancer Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters, hospices, food banks or whoever needs something, nobody comes away empty-handed. We’re always there helping different organizations. We know how to market things and help them promote their cause.”

After 75 years, only modesty prevents the Nackard Companies from listing the many things they know how to do.

VITAL STATS
THE NACKARD COMPANIES
PRESIDENT: Patrick Nackard
HEADQUARTERS: Flagstaff, Ariz., USA
’07 REVENUE: US$75 million
EMPLOYEES: 300
GOALS: To keep the local communities they serve top of mind, invest for continued growth, meet expectations of customers and strike a fair balance with brand marketer partners.

From Beverage World March 15, 2008