Crown on Top

An area so abundant with beverage manufacturing would be incomplete without reliable and efficient means of distribution, so it’s fortunate that Eastern New Orleans is also home to Crescent Crown Distributing, a company that operates alongside and in partnership with local breweries.

Chris Bourg, executive vice president and general manager at Crescent Crown Distributing, says Eastern New Orleans is not just a prime location because of its infrastructure, but also because its citizens are united and resilient. He cites the many challenges people and businesses in the East have faced and overcome, including the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidence of the community’s strength.

“Too many of us have experience with devastating hurricanes, floods, tornados, a rough economy and civil unrest, but we have seen and experienced firsthand how the most resilient people on the planet respond,” Bourg says. “This is a special place with special people; perhaps the greatest product produced in Southern Louisiana is actually our people.”

In turn, Bourg says it is also Crescent Crown’s people that make it successful. Crescent Crown Distributing, which came about after a merger between Crown Beverage and Crescent Distributing in 2001, operates out of four facilities that service Southern Louisiana and two facilities that service the greater Phoenix area. Overall, the company employs nearly 1,400 team members (of which 630 are Louisiana residents). 

“Our organization works tirelessly to perform as a nationally recognized leader, establishing the standards by which all others are measured,” Bourg says. “We hold ourselves accountable to these standards with the utmost integrity, pride, professionalism and enthusiasm as we strive as a team and as individuals to be the best beverage distributor in the marketplace. Our people and our ownership’s support of those people is our greatest advantage.” 

In fact, a significant number of team members have decades of industry experience. Bourg, who has himself been with the company for 14 years (including six years in his current role), says that some team members have nearly 50 years of experience. “One hundred percent of our employees are paid well above the current minimum wage rate,” he says. “Nearly all of our positions are full-time and benefit-eligible. These are not just jobs—they’re careers supporting families.”

Today, Crescent Crown Distributing sells and delivers more than 36 million cases of beverages with approximately 40 percent of that number being distributed in Louisiana. That quantity continues to grow as the company acquires new territories, invests in new beverage opportunities and enhances its execution with existing beverage partners. In Louisiana, Crescent Crown Distributing represents 55 brewers/suppliers and more than 600 brands.

Photos Provided By Crescent Crown

“We look for brands that help us build scale, enhance emerging and existing beverage categories, align with our strategic planning process and nurture a results-oriented culture,” Bourg says. “We have a solid track record for building great brands. We sell and distribute over 1,600 different products.”

Of those products, Bourg says the hard seltzer category has been explosive. Crescent Crown also represents seven of the top 10 craft suppliers in the United States (ranked by volume by the Brewers Association), including Yuengling, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Bell’s Brewery. Local beer brands include Abita Beer, NOLA Brewing, Second Line Brewing, Zony Mash Beer Project and Faubourg Brewing. Crescent Crown also distributes Red Bull and high-end waters like Evian, Fiji and Acqua Panna.

Bourg says that having the company’s warehouse in Eastern New Orleans means convenience to the I-10 corridor, the French Quarter, the Northshore and the suburbs of Greater New Orleans. As a local company, Crescent Crown is intent on supporting the community. For example, during the pandemic, the company donated more than $450,000 to support bars, restaurants and workers.

“In Louisiana alone, we worked with the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation to benefit the South Louisiana Bar Owner Relief Fund with a $200,000 donation,” Bourg says. “We donated $10,000 to the Nurse Relief Fund through the Louisiana Nurses Foundation. We donated free products (Essentia water, Red Bull and soda products) to hospitals and first responders throughout Southern Louisiana.”