If you live in the Hudson Valley, chances are good that you’ve seen a Manhattan Beer Distributors logo around before. The company, which was founded by Simon Bergson in 1978, has a significant presence throughout the region, with service that stretches across 14 counties from Manhattan to Monticello. Now, Manhattan Beer Distributors is poised to reach new heights with its redeveloped and expanded facility in Suffern.
At the groundbreaking ceremony on September 20, Bergson shared how the company has grown from a 4,000-square-foot warehouse space with one truck to more than a million square feet of warehouse space with over 350 trucks over the course of its history.
“When I founded this company 46 years ago, I never imagined it would be the size it is today,” he explained at the event. Now overseeing five facilities, he noted that the one in Suffern is the company’s most impressive and advanced. It’s also one that he hopes will set a precedent for the company’s eco-friendly and innovative practices for years to come.
“When we broke ground on this project in 2021 after years of planning, we set out to transform the facility we had operated here since 2009,” he shared. Previously, the Suffern operation consisted of two neighboring but separate units: 20 Dunnigan Drive, with 150,000 square feet of space, and 10 Dunnigan Drive, with 90,000 square feet of space. Once construction began, the team demolished existing offices, constructed new ones, eliminated a parking area, and, ultimately, constructed a 100,000-square-foot, 55-foot-tall warehouse addition.
While the addition and expansion are impressive, perhaps what’s even more notable is what’s inside the facilities. Within the new addition, Manhattan Beer Distributors installed a seven-level-high ASRS, or an automated storage retrieval system. To do so, the company worked with Westfalia, a leading automation technology company that helped Manhattan Beer Distributors create a system that maximizes efficiency. The new ASRS consists of hundreds of feet of pallet conveyor system, as well as three storage retrieval machines. To see the machines in person is more than a little impressive. Not only do they tower to the heights of the building, but their automated operation means that, when an order is called, they can identify not only the brand needed, but also the pallet with the earliest expiration date (even if it’s far back in the building) to ensure inventory always remains as fresh as possible.
Adding the ASRS into the warehouse space means that Manhattan Beer Distributors has been able to go from storing about 850,000 cases to more than 1.5 million just in the ASRS section of the facility. The overhaul of the Suffern space also gave the company an opportunity to revamp its rail operations. It shifted from a six-car, interior rail setup to a 12-car, double-track, exterior rail platform that’s located right alongside the warehouse.
“We love rail because it’s environmentally friendly and efficient,” Bergson enthused, adding that the company uses rail in Suffern, the Bronx, and Queens. “Each rail car represents four tractor trailers worth of beer. That’s eight fewer trips on our roads.”
Just as the rail expansion is an eco-friendly step for the company, so too is its move to make its trucks operate in the same vein.
“This facility is the first of our five facilities to have 100 percent of its fleet powered by alternative fuels,” he shared. “We’ve eliminated diesel, and we run all our trucks on renewable natural gas, or RNG. RNG is compressed natural gas sourced from landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and farms.”
To date, Manhattan Beer has 11 heavy-duty electric trucks in its fleet. Between these and the RNG fleet, the company can boast that more than 77 percent of the miles its drivers drive are powered by alternative fuels. By 2030, the organization’s goal is to increase that number to 100 percent.
“We’re proud of the leadership role we’re playing in the transition to sustainable fuels,” Bergson said.
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