Nation’s 2nd-Largest Wine And Spirits Distributor Exits California Market Over Costs, Suppliers

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Wine and spirits distributor Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) is leaving the California market.

RNDC cited increasing costs and changes among suppliers as one of the reasons it has decided to stop operating in the state.

“This decision follows years of increasing costs, industry headwinds, and supplier shifts that have made it difficult to operate sustainably in the state,” its leadership said in an emailed statement to its customers on June 4. “We are incredibly proud of our California team and all of their hard work over the years. Please know that our commitment to you during this transition remains unwavering.”

RNDC has lost several significant distribution partnerships in California in recent years. The company’s announcement comes just months after two major suppliers, Tito’s Vodka and Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman, departed from their California distribution relationship with RNDC in favor of its competitor, Reyes Beverage Group.

E. & J. Gallo Winery, which owns the High Noon brand, also ended its relationship with RNDC in the state in 2025, opting instead for Reyes Beverage Group.

In 2023, Sazerac ended its longtime relationship with RNDC in California. The bourbon and whiskey maker moved its brands including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, and Fireball Whisky, to the Reyes Beverage Group.

RNDC did not return a request for comment.

Other companies such as Chevron, Tesla, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, have in recent years moved their headquarters from California to states like Texas or Nevada. Unlike RNDC, which also plans to cease servicing the state, these companies continue to operate in California’s sizable economy.

RNDC joins a list of national companies—many of them insurance providers—that have fully exited the California market.

Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Company withdrew from the California homeowners insurance market in 2023. That same year, American National also announced it would stop offering homeowners insurance in the state, a move that affected more than 36,000 policies. In addition, Merastar Insurance stopped renewing homeowners and car insurance policies in California beginning in 2024.

Some other companies still operating in California have made moves to limit their operations in the state. State Farm and Allstate announced they would no longer be accepting new applications for homeowners insurance, citing rising costs and wildfire risks.

A Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance spokesperson previously told The Epoch Times the company made its decision to increase efficiency and mitigate risk exposure.

Berkshire Hathaway’s AmGUARD, a division of the firm’s GUARD Insurance company, informed the California Department of Insurance in July 2023 of its plan to cancel the homeowners and personal umbrella policies it holds in the state, which followed through on two months later. AmGUARD’s notice came the same day that the small insurance firm Falls Lake Insurance submitted a letter indicating it would also be canceling policies in the state.

A 2022 report by the Hoover Institution found that 352 companies relocated from California to other states between 2018 to 2021, primarily due to the state’s high operating costs.