Itasca, Illinois based Town and Country Distributors – a finalist for Craft Beer Distributor of the Year – walked away empty-handed at this weekend’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado.
But, the wholesaler didn’t go o-fer for the weekend. They won a Golden Bar Award at the annual Diageo Convention.
Town and Country, who we highlighted last week after the distributor was nominated for Craft Beer Distributor of the Year for a third consecutive year, was honored by Diageo for best distributor growth over three consecutive years.
Town and Country CEO John Holland, in an email exchange with GDB, trumpeted the Diageo award while taking the GABF news in stride. “We were pleased just to have been in such good company as a finalist,” said Holland.
The award, pictured right, is said to be, “the beverage alcohol industry’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.”
“Each year statuettes made with 24 carat gold are awarded to distributors. Each Golden Bar statuette weights eight pounds, stands more than a foot tall, and is produced by R. S. Owens, the company that created the Oscar®, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”
Diageo’s brands include Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s.
At the GABF, Brown Distributing Company of West Palm Beach, Florida was named Craft Beer Distributor of the Year. DeCrescente Distributing Company of Mechanicville, New York, was awarded with the Craft Beer Distributor Achievement Award, and Tryon Distributing of Charlotte, North Carolina, received the Craft Beer Distributor Recognition Award.