Evanston’s FEW Spirits bought by Heaven Hill Brands: ‘It should be business as usual,’ founder says
Evanston’s FEW Spirits has been acquired with a portfolio of craft distilleries by Heaven Hill Brands, FEW founder Paul Hletko said Tuesday.
Hletko already sold his business once, in 2016, to Samson & Surrey, a Miami-based spirits portfolio started by two former Bacardi executives. Hletko became a partner in that company as Samson & Surrey went on to acquire five more spirits brands, all of which were acquired by Heaven Hill: Bluecoat gin, Brenne Whisky, Widow Jane whiskey, Mezcal Vago and Tequila Ocho.
Hletko said FEW will continue to operate from its warehouse at the end of an Evanston alley, where it was founded in 2011. Any changes resulting from the sale will be out of customer view, he said.
“The changes for the most part will be in distribution, sales and marketing,” he said. “For FEW, it should be business as usual. We’ll continue doing what we do. We’ll just do it with the sophistication and market access of a Heaven Hill behind us.”
FEW’s core brands are FEW Straight Bourbon and FEW Straight Rye; it also produces a smattering of smaller brands including gins and small-batch whiskeys.
Heaven Hill Brands is a wide-ranging spirits company that includes Heaven Hill Distillery, which is among the nation’s hallmark whiskey producers, making brands including Heaven Hill, Elijah Craig and Evan Williams.
The Samson & Surrey portfolio has grown 60% annually, doing $40 million in sales across more than 30 markets globally, according to a news release.
“Throughout our 86-year history, our focus has been building a business with a portfolio of great brands sold through a great team,” Max L. Shapira, president of Heaven Hill Brands, said in the news release. “The Samson & Surrey portfolio strategically enhances our portfolio with emerging brands in strong growth categories. Together with their team, Heaven Hill is poised to leverage the tremendous potential of these exciting brands.”
Terms of the deal were not announced.
