Heidelberg to consolidate SW Ohio operations in Moraine

Heidelberg Distributing Co. is consolidating the warehouse and delivery operations of two of its Southwestern Ohio locations, bringing that work to its Dryden Road facility in Moraine, the company confirmed Tuesday.

“Heidelberg Distributing is consolidating the warehouse and delivery functions of two of our Cincinnati-area locations into our facility in Moraine,” the business said in a statement sent in response to questions about the plan from the Dayton Daily News. “This will allow us to better utilize the space available in the Moraine facility and drive delivery efficiencies while strengthening our ability to serve our valued customers and suppliers.

“The current Heidelberg Cincinnati facility will become the sales office, and there will be no changes to our sales structure,” the statement added. “All operations associates will be offered the opportunity to transition to the Moraine facility.”

This news outlet obtained a recent email sent from Chris Rammel, president of Heidelberg Distributing, to company employees in the Cincinnati area.

The email states in part that the plan is to have all Southwestern Ohio deliveries originate from the Dryden Road facility by Oct. 2.

The email also says that the space of the large Moraine warehouse is underutilized at the moment, currently at 23% capacity. It also says the three facilities now serving this part of the state are only some 48 miles apart at most.

The company is offering union-represented employees affected by the change “expedited negotiations,” the email also says.

In October 2021, the then-owners of Heidelberg Distributing agreed to sell their business to Redwood Capital Investments of Maryland.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed at the time, but a beer industry newsletter put the value of the deal at close to $1 billion.

At that time, the business had more than 1,600 employees, with 717 suppliers serving 26,000 retail accounts across Ohio and Kentucky.

The family-owned company started with German-born brewer Albert Vontz, who arrived in Cincinnati in 1907. After the Prohibition era, he drove a truck for the Heidelberg Brewery in nearby Covington, Ky. He kept the Heidelberg name when the brewery went out of business.

DDN