Sellar Distribution: 3 depots down, 9 to go.

Sellar Distribution has arrived in the South West.

This week we opened our third Sellar Distribution depot in Bristol, adding the South West to our growing distribution network.
Edinburgh. Manchester. Bristol.

3 depots down. 9 to go.

Before getting into why this one feels particularly significant, it’s probably worth a quick reminder of what we’re actually trying to build.

Particularly because, judging by the number of people who still confuse Sellar Distribution with Sellar Shipping, we clearly haven't explained it well enough.
So much so that we recently killed Sellar Shipping altogether.
Well, in name at least. More on that here.

Why we’re doing this

It’s no secret that the environment for craft breweries and independent drinks makers is harder than ever.

Costs are up. Margins are down. And fulfilment is one of the biggest variables in whether an order is actually profitable.

There’s no shortage of ways to move drinks around the country. The problem is that each requires a compromise.

Direct delivery gives makers control, but is difficult to scale.

Couriers give you reach, but weren’t designed for drinks.

Wholesale gives convenience, but at the expense of margin, range and control.

We think there’s a better way. And we’re building it.

Sellar Distribution is what the distribution model would look like if it was designed by brewers. (It kinda was.)

A shared national distribution network that gives makers the reach and convenience of traditional distribution, without giving up the margin, range and control of selling direct.

We’ve laid the groundwork

In my last update, I wrote about the amount of technological groundwork required to build a new kind of national drinks distributor.

We’ve now built a lot of that foundation. There’s still plenty to improve, but the most important piece was always connecting our depots.

That was the point where I said the real magic would begin.

Well, we switched that on in August. And it’s working.

Though, with only two depots, there were only two possible directional flows:

Edinburgh → Manchester

Manchester → Edinburgh

Two depots. Two flows.

Bristol changes that.

With three connected depots, we now have six directional flows across the network.

Edinburgh → Manchester
Manchester → Edinburgh

Manchester → Bristol
Bristol → Manchester

Edinburgh → Bristol
Bristol → Edinburgh

Three depots. Six flows.

Now things start to get interesting.

Every supplier entering the network through Bristol can access our North West and Scottish regions. And every supplier already connected in those regions has just had the South West switched on.

So how does it actually work?

In that last update, I used an example of a single keg being collected in Glasgow and economically ending up in Cardiff.

Now we can actually do it.

Say a brewery in Glasgow has Sellar Distribution switched on and a bar in Cardiff orders one keg.

We tell the brewery exactly what’s been ordered, who ordered it and when we’re coming to collect.

Our driver collects that keg alongside everything else the brewery has sold through Sellar Distribution. Some orders might be staying in Scotland. Others might be heading to the North West or South West.

The Cardiff keg comes back to our Edinburgh depot.

From there, it travels to Bristol alongside all the other products heading in the same direction.

At Bristol, we consolidate it with the Cardiff bar’s other orders, which could include products from any number of makers across the Sellar Distribution network.

Then our driver loads the lot onto the van, takes it to the bar, delivers it to the cellar, and picks up the empties while we’re there.

Collection. Inter-depot transfer. Consolidation. Final-mile delivery. Empties. All for 10% of the order value.

No minimum order. No pallet requirement.

The foundations are in. Now we need more depots.

Our focus is simple: Open more depots.

Bristol is #3.

Sellar distribution is now available in:

Manchester · Liverpool · Leeds · Newcastle · Chester · Preston · Morecambe · Sheffield · Edinburgh · Glasgow · Dundee · Bristol · Cardiff · Bath · Reading · Southampton · Taunton · Gloucester · Oxford · Exeter · Bournemouth · Poole · Cheltenham

This footprint isn’t fixed. As volume builds around each depot, we can add more vans to the network. This improves our delivery frequency and enables us to push further into the surrounding areas.

And every new depot opens up a new market for every supplier in the network.

Depot #4 starts with three depots behind it. So all suppliers across our first three will gain access to a new region. And suppliers joining depot #4 can immediately access the three existing regions.

We're already looking at depots #4 and #5, and plan to have 7 live by the end of next year, prioritising the markets where we think we can make the biggest difference first.

From there, we'll keep filling in the remaining gaps until we’re providing the most cost-effective drinks distribution network in the country.

And the bigger the network gets, the better it becomes for everyone using it.

3 down. 9 to go.

If you want to understand how Sellar Distribution could work for you — whether we already collect in your area or you want to know where we're heading next — get in touch - distribution@sellar.io

Written by Julian Bourne

Co-founder

Julian@sellar.io