Biagi Bros. needed a place where it could distribute Corona and other foreign beers to 30 beverage wholesalers in Virginia and parts of other states.
“Location was the main issue,” says Vice President Fred Biagi Jr., who founded the Company along with brother Greg Biagi in 1978.
When officials visited Henrico County, it became apparent that this was where the company needed to set up shop. Soon after, Biagi Bros. leased a 95,000-square-foot facility in the Fairgrounds Industrial Park that became the company’s 15th distribution center in the country. It also operates a facility in Williamsburg that supplies an Anheuser-Busch brewery.
“The people of Henrico County were very easy to work with,” Fred Biagi says. “We just had no difficulties at all.” Representatives from the Greater Richmond Partnership and the Henrico County Economic Development Authority were key players during the process.
“They are a West Coast distributor. I think it speaks volumes that they selected Henrico as their East Coast hub,” says Gregory Wingfield, president of the Greater Richmond Partnership. “Our location once again has given us a well-positioned foundation for companies to distribute their products.”
Besides the location’s proximity to interstates 95 and 64, rail access helped seal the deal. Biagi says the majority of the product comes from Mexico, and the company unloads about 16 railcars per day of Corona, Modelo and Pacifico beers. That’s around 15 million cases per year passing through the Henrico warehouse.
Rail service is not easy to find in most cities, but many companies demand it due to the cost of fuel. Businesses save money using rail rather than a truck service for long-distance hauling.
“For every railcar is four trucks,” says Steve Powell, vice president and general manager of Dillwyn-based Buckingham Branch Railroad. “You can imagine how much it would cost for 64 trucks a day leaving Mexico to come to Richmond and then returning. Also, rail fuel consumption is about a third of trucks.”
Powell says the product reaches the U.S. border at Laredo, Texas, and then is carried by Union Pacific railroad to New Orleans. That’s where CSX railroad picks up the freight and transports it to Doswell. Buckingham Branch, a short-line railroad, then delivers the product to the door of the beer distributor’s warehouse.
Biagi Bros. began deliveries in January, and its vice president says he couldn’t be happier. “We’re tickled to death about being in Henrico County,” Biagi says. “We’re very happy with the decision. It’s been nothing but positive. We’re also very excited about our workforce.”
Bryan Hartman, operations manager at the Fairgrounds facility, says the operation currently employs 13 warehouse workers and eight truck drivers.
“As I understand it, the busy season is right around the corner,” says Hartman, who was hired locally as was the entire staff. “The busy season is when it gets warm outside. Mid-April through summer, the amount of beer that will be coming in and out will triple. We’ll go from shipping 25 tractor trailers per day to 35 to 40 per day.”
Biagi Bros. will invest around $1 million in the warehouse after purchasing equipment, supplies, trucks, trailers and other items. The facility will become one of the largest beer distribution centers in the region.
It’s possible the warehouse could add more employees. There’s a plan to move wine from Napa Valley and unload it in the Henrico facility for distribution along the East Coast. However, there’s no timetable set. “We wanted to make sure the business we started was up and running,” Biagi says. “We wanted to take care of our current customers first.”
There was one additional factor that helped Biagi Bros. select Henrico County. Fred Biagi says that the Richmond International Raceway is his favorite track. The company owned a NASCAR Busch Grand National car from 2001–2006 and would visit the area to race.
For more information, visit www.biagibros.com.
