Breakthru's Danny Wirtz on suppliers' shift to a "best athlete" strategy

Danny Wirtz, Co-Chairman of Breakthru Beverage Group, discusses how brands are rethinking national agreements and what success looks like when performance, not footprint, are the primary concern for suppliers' route-to-market strategy. Themes from the episode: How did Breakthru shift strategy after a planned merger with Republic National Distributing Company was terminated in 2019? What does geographic expansion look like in the current market? What is driving decisions about footprint? Are suppliers deprioritizing a national footprint? Are there still benefits from those national partnerships? How is the push from beer wholesalers and Reyes Beverage Group changing the strategies of wine and spirits wholesalers? What are Danny's thoughts, as CEO of the Chicago Blackhawks, about the boost his sport has received from the international phenomenon Heated Rivalry? Have a question, qualm or story to tell, reach out via email: Bourcard.Nesin@rabobank.com Sign up to access our written research: RaboResearch sign-up Note: The content and opinions presented within this podcast are not intended as investment advice, and the opinions rendered are that of the individuals and not Rabobank or its affiliates and should not be considered a solicitation or offer to sell or provide services. Disclaimer: Please refer to our global RaboResearch disclaimer at for information about the scope and limitations of the material published on the podcast.

You can listen to Breakthru's Danny Wirtz on suppliers' shift to a "best athlete" strategy online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Breakthru's Danny Wirtz on suppliers' shift to a "best athlete" strategy is an episode from Liquid Assets: A Beverage Industry Podcast by Julio Pijnappel.

This episode is 25:53 long.

This episode was published on Feb 23, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Liquid Assets: A Beverage Industry Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.