POSITION and company: Chairman, Mockler Beverage Co.; co-chairman, Southern Eagle Sales & Service
WHAT THEY DO: Distribute beer and other beverages in the Capital Region [through Mockler Beverage] and New Orleans [through Southern Eagle]
REVENUE: Almost $74 million reported in 2008
NEXT GOAL: Keep growing
The Mocklers now are in the New Orleans market. It’s the first big expansion for their company, but Tim Mockler says it probably won’t be the last.
“It’s a matter of grow or die,” he says, “so we’re constantly looking at opportunities.”
Mockler Beverage has partnered with Champagne Beverage of Madisonville to buy Southern Eagle Sales & Service, which distributes Anheuser-Busch products in the New Orleans area. Mockler Beverage does the same here, as does Champagne on
the Northshore, so the companies are a natural fit for each other.
The move was announced in July; the price was not disclosed, and Mockler would only say the purchase was an eight-figure deal. The Mocklers now own 50% of Southern Eagle, and Champagne president Joel Champagne owns the other half, Mockler says.
Distributors tend to be family-owned companies through multiple generations. When a wholesaler wants to retire, there generally are two options: pass the business to the children, or sell to an adjacent distributor. According to Mockler, former Southern Eagle owner James Hunter’s daughters aren’t interested in the business, so Hunter sold. Mockler says the company was in decent shape when acquired, but a culture change was needed to create a more personable business.
“It wasn’t broken, but it was bent, so we had to straighten things out,” Mockler says, adding he’s “very, very pleased” with the results so far. Mockler says a few employees were added to the 240 Southern Eagle already had to add a little more specialization; for example, one person only calls on hotels.
The New Orleans market presents a wealth of sponsorship opportunities through major events like the Jazz & Heritage Festival, Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl. Most of the fans at Saints and Hornets games are from southeast Louisiana, so those events make a lot of sense from a marketing perspective, Mockler says.
Mockler Beverage has about 60% of the Baton Rouge market share, Mockler says, and getting much more than that is tough. Partnering with new suppliers is one way to expand the business; in the past few years, Mockler Beverage has added Seattle-based Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Kiln, Miss.-based Lazy Magnolia beer and Darien, Conn.-based The Switch carbonated fruit drinks [among others] to its roster of products. But if they really want to grow the business, they’ll need to find new markets.
“We like the Gulf Coast, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay there,” Mockler says. “We’re always keeping our eyes open and looking for other areas.”
