Food & Beverage

Overview

Tannenbaum Helpern has a long history representing clients in the food and beverage industry. Our attorneys bring decades of industry experience to bear in addressing the unique issues that arise for highly regulated businesses that produce, distribute and serve food and drinks to consumers.

Attorneys at Tannenbaum Helpern have assisted leading food and beverage clients at all levels of the supply chain, from producers and importers to distributors and retailers, as they deal with issues of international and domestic supply, distribution, and the rapidly growing role of e-commerce; employment; safety and contamination; family succession planning; mergers and acquisitions; litigation; and intellectual property.

Our lawyers also have deep knowledge of the regulation of alcoholic beverages and the relationships between suppliers and distributors in the mandatory three-tier distribution system that applies in most U.S. states. We have decades of experience structuring distribution relationships in the context of industry franchise regulation, and completing mergers and acquisitions while managing those relationships.

In a related field, see Tannenbaum Helpern’s experience in representing Hospitality clients.

Representative Experience

• Represented numerous beer distribution and soft drink bottling and distribution clients in acquiring or selling brands, territories and distributorships, including joint ventures and brand swaps
• Negotiated scores of distribution agreements for manufacturers, importers, and distributors of beer, wine and spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages
• Negotiated, drafted, and testified in support of the New Jersey Malt Alcoholic Beverage Practices Act
• Drafted amendments expanding the reach of the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act to cover soft drink distributors
• Assisted European and South American wine producers to terminate U.S. import relationships and enter new ones
• Structured distribution networks and drafted and negotiated wholesaler agreements for U.S. importers of wine and spirits
• Advised Canadian, U.K. and U.S. craft spirits and RTD producers, and U.S. craft beer producers, on U.S. distributor relationships
• Advised a sake importer over many years on the formation of its business, its supplier and distributor relationships, and ultimately the sale of its business to a major wine and spirits importer
• Assisted food and beverage businesses on corporate governance, raising capital, complex credit facilities and related matters
• Negotiated trademark license agreement with major candy manufacturer for production of soft drinks under candy brand
• Advised soft drink bottlers and beer distributors on e-commerce sales by suppliers and negotiated agreements to address territorial exclusivity issues
• Advised soft drink bottlers and beer distributors on bottle law compliance issues and in connection with regulatory enforcement investigations
• Represented leading food purveyor in connection with contamination or products produced by a co-packer, including product recall, insurance and product liability issues
• Negotiated employment agreements with key employees of food and beverage businesses
• Provided counseling on all legal matters to a wide range of food and beverage purveyors, from beer distributors and soft drink bottlers and distributors, to wine and spirits producers and importers, to a meat importer, a meat, game and paté purveyor, a sorbet producer, a seafood importer, and others.