Better Brands
Better Brands, operating as Southern Crown Partners, is a regional beverage wholesale distributor headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It distributes beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages to retailers across 61 counties in the South Carolina Lowcountry and Coastal Plains of Georgia.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1965
- HeadquartersMyrtle Beach, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Better Brands does
Better Brands operates as a regional beverage distribution business through its Southern Crown Partners division, headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The company distributes beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages across 61 counties spanning the Lowcountry of South Carolina and the Coastal Plains of Georgia, serving as a wholesale route-to-market for beverage brand suppliers and delivering to retailer accounts across its territory.
Founded in 1965 and operating with 101-250 employees, the firm functions as a multi-category regional distributor with a contiguous two-state footprint. The go-to-market is a direct B2B wholesale model — purchasing from beverage manufacturers and distributing to retailers — with no disclosed digital channels, e-commerce platform, or proprietary technology stack. Customer segmentation is horizontal across beverage categories rather than vertically specialized.
The leadership team comprises President & CEO Mike Riley and CFO Priya Patel. No revenue, funding, M&A, partnership, product launch, or expansion transaction data is disclosed. Ownership structure, investors, and financial history are not evidenced in the source material, representing material data gaps for any prospective investor or acquirer.
Better Brands firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Better Brands
- Legal name
- Southern Crown Partners
- Website
- https://betterbrandsmb.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1965
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Better Brands, operating as Southern Crown Partners, is a regional beverage wholesale distributor headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It distributes beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages to retailers across 61 counties in the South Carolina Lowcountry and Coastal Plains of Georgia.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Better Brands is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Myrtle Beach
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Better Brands business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Distribution channels1 record
Better Brands product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Better Brands, operating as Southern Crown Partners, is a beverage distribution company that supplies beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages to retailers and on-premise accounts such as local breweries and restaurants. The company covers 61 counties across the Lowcountry of South Carolina and the Coastal Plains of Georgia, providing multi-category beverage logistics and wholesale services in the Southeast United States.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Beverage Distribution Service Wholesale distribution of beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages to retailers, restaurants, breweries, and on-premise accounts across 61 counties in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and Coastal Plains of Georgia.
Companies that use Better Brands
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Better Brands technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Better Brands partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves2 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Better Brands competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Breakthru Beverage Group: Multi-state beverage alcohol distributor formed via the Southern Wine & Spirits/Coors tie-up, operating across the US. Comparable as a multi-region competitor with overlapping beer, wine, and spirits portfolios.
- Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits: The largest beverage alcohol distributor in the US, operating across beer, wine, and spirits nationwide. Directly comparable as the dominant scale competitor against which regional distributors like Better Brands must compete for supplier awards and shelf access.
- Republic National Distributing Company: Second-largest US beverage alcohol distributor covering wine, spirits, and beer across dozens of states. Comparable as a national incumbent that competes head-to-head with regional distributors in the Southeast for supplier and retailer business.
- Johnson Brothers: Family-owned multi-state wine, spirits, and beer distributor with strong Southeast presence. Comparable as a privately held, mid-to-large regional/national competitor with similar product mix.
Others
- Vita Coco: Leading non-alcoholic beverage brand sold through beverage distributors like Better Brands. Comparable as a counterparty/supplier in the NA beverage category that relies on regional distributors like this for Southeast retail and on-premise placement.
Regional players
- Hand Family Companies: South Carolina-based beverage distributor (originally Coca-Cola Bottling) operating across the state. Comparable as a regional South Carolina distributor with overlapping Lowcountry footprint and similar beer/NA mix.
- Coastal Beverage Company: Beverage distributor serving coastal North Carolina from Wilmington and Elizabeth City. Comparable as a regional coastal Southeast distributor with similar product mix and on-premise customer base.
- Ben E. Keith Company: Regional beverage distributor and foodservice supplier operating across the South-Central US. Comparable as a privately held, regional multi-category distributor with similar business model.
- Empire Distributors: Beverage alcohol distributor covering the Southeast (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama). Comparable as a similarly sized regional distributor operating in adjacent Southeast geographies with overlapping supplier and account types.
- Eagle Distributing (Southeast): Anheuser-Busch affiliated beer distributor operating in parts of the Southeast. Comparable as a regional beverage distributor competing for the same on-premise and retail accounts in overlapping Carolina/Georgia territory.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Better Brands social profiles
Digital presenceBetter Brands financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Better Brands leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Better Brands funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Better Brands M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Better Brands
What does Better Brands do?
Better Brands, operating as Southern Crown Partners, is a beverage distribution company that supplies beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages to retailers and on-premise accounts such as local breweries and restaurants. The company covers 61 counties across the Lowcountry of South Carolina and the Coastal Plains of Georgia, providing multi-category beverage logistics and wholesale services in the Southeast United States.
Is Better Brands a public or private company?
Better Brands is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Better Brands founded?
Better Brands was founded in 1965. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Better Brands based?
Better Brands is headquartered in Myrtle Beach, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Better Brands's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Breakthru Beverage Group, Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, Republic National Distributing Company and Johnson Brothers. Vita Coco is listed as an others. Regional players are Hand Family Companies, Coastal Beverage Company, Ben E. Keith Company, Empire Distributors and Eagle Distributing (Southeast).
Does Better Brands have an API?
No public API is recorded for Better Brands.