Liquid Death, Los Angeles, announced its new distribution agreements with Sunset Distributing, a Southern California subsidiary of Hand Family Companies, and with Pacific Northwest distributors: The Odom Corp., Bigfoot Beverages and Summit Beverage Distribution Co. These agreements strengthen Liquid Death’s presence along the West Coast as it scales to meet rapidly growing consumer demand, it says.

Liquid Death is a healthy beverage company across multiple categories such as mountain water, soda-flavored sparkling water, and iced tea categories. In the coming weeks, Liquid Death will launch a better-for-you energy drink line.

“At Liquid Death, we’ve built a multi-category healthy beverage platform under a single brand name, an incredibly rare feat for a beverage brand only five years old in physical retail. As we look to scale our retail footprint on the West Coast, these best-in-class distribution partners will bring us the highest level of execution and deep local expertise in these key markets,” said Mike Cessario, founder and CEO of Liquid Death, in a statement. “Our differentiated comedy-driven marketing strategy has rapidly and efficiently built brand awareness, and we’re focused on meeting our fans wherever they are. We have an exciting innovation pipeline for next year and are weeks away from launching our better-for-you energy drink line in physical retail. As we prepare to enter this new chapter of growth, Sunset, Odom, Bigfoot and Summit are the perfect partners.”

Sunset Distributing is part of Hand Family Companies’ alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage distribution network, which includes Lakeshore Beverage (Illinois), Bluegrass Beverage (Kentucky), and TriStar Beverage (Tennessee), and it recently acquired Classic Beverage and Stone Brewing to expand its footprint to the broader Los Angeles metro area. Liquid Death’s new partnership with Sunset Distributing will bring the highest level of operational excellence of Hand Family Companies in existing channels and expand Liquid Death into new channels, it says.

“At Sunset, we’ve created a powerful route to market in Southern California that’s unmatched. We are thrilled to bring that to Liquid Death and its disruptive brand,” said JR Hand, president and CEO of Hand Family Companies, in a statement. “We’ve distributed beloved beverages for three generations, and Liquid Death is already one of our top brands by volume in existing markets. Expanding into Los Angeles — Liquid Death’s home base — is an exciting opportunity to deepen our partnership and drive meaningful growth for a brand that shares our innovative vision.”

In the Pacific Northwest, Liquid Death is partnering with three top independent distributors, The Odom Corp., Bigfoot Beverages and Summit Beverage Distribution Co. in key markets including Seattle, Alaska and Southern Oregon.

“As a multi-generational, family-owned distributor committed to delivering best-in-brand beverages and superior service, The Odom Corp. is thrilled to partner with Liquid Death,” said Brandon Odom, executive vice president of sales at the Odom Corp. “Liquid Death has disrupted the better-for-you beverage space and is a natural fit for our premium portfolio. We are excited to leverage our deep distribution network across the Pacific Northwest.”

These distributor upgrades coincide with Liquid Death’s anticipated new category launch: better-for-you energy. Liquid Death’s new sparkling energy drink is co-formulated with board certified surgeon and longevity specialist Dr. Darshan Shah. 

The product contains an ‘unextreme caffeine’ level, just 100 mg of caffeine, equal to a cup of coffee. The caffeine is naturally sourced from coffee beans, not synthetic sources. The line has no sugar, no sucralose, no aspartame and no erythritol. It is sweetened with a blend of stevia and allulose. Studies have shown that allulose helps to maintain blood sugar levels, the company says. The formula includes essential B12 and C vitamins, as well as L-Theanine and Magnesium. Energy drinks are the No. 1 item in the baskets of existing Liquid Death shoppers, and the company is excited to launch the new category to their 15 million social media followers, the company says.

Liquid Death’s rapid brand awareness growth stems from its entertainment-first marketing strategy, which focuses on creating true comedy that wins on social media and has built it into the No. 2 most followed beverage brand globally across TikTok and Instagram, according to the company. 

In the past year, the brand has launched comedic campaigns with influential celebrities and brands such as Ozzy Osbourne, Kylie Kelce, Amazon, Yeti, Yahoo! Fantasy, and most recently The Running Man. In-house created and produced ads often deliver a 1:1 like-to-share ratio and virality including recent favorites ‘Small Cans’ and Toxic Avenger. After ranking as the No. 1 most engaging beverage ad during last year’s Big Game according to EDO, Liquid Death will air its second national Big Game spot in February 2026.

https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/97486-bold-branding-delivers-liquid-death-its-edge