Business of Drinks

Girl Beer founder Ray Biebuyck spent eight months self-distributing. Her assessment: It “set us back eight months.”

She’d secured roughly 40 Whole Foods stores in Southern California but couldn’t get a distributor. So she started delivering the beer herself.

“It was totally brutal,” she told Scott Rosenbaum on Business of Drinks.

Her warning to founders: Self-distributing for too long can cost you critical momentum.

For its Arizona expansion, Girl Beer had statewide distribution, major retail commitments, and a sales rep in place — giving the brand a model it could build on.

Now, Hurray’s Girl Beer expects 10x growth in 2026 and a footprint of around 3K stores.

Landing an account is exciting. Having the infrastructure to service it and support sales is what makes that opportunity work.