Building a brand without owning a distillery or brewery still means navigating federal and state compliance. We handle the licensing, approvals, and structure that let your brand launch and scale.
Many of the most exciting alcohol brands don't own production, they work through contract or co-packing arrangements, private label, or non-distilling producer models. But a brand owner still faces real compliance: the right permits for your model, label and formula approvals, and state registrations to get on shelves and into distribution.
Alcohol Industry Associates helps brand owners navigate exactly this. We determine the permitting your model requires, secure COLAs and formula approvals for your products, and handle the state licensing and brand registrations that let you launch and grow, so you can focus on building the brand.
Brand owners face a compliance path that depends on their production model. We handle:
A brand-first business has different compliance needs than a traditional producer. Depending on whether you contract-produce, co-pack, or operate under a non-distilling producer arrangement, the permits and responsibilities shift, and getting the structure right up front prevents problems later.
We assess your production and go-to-market model, determine exactly what permitting and approvals it requires, and manage the filings so your brand launches on solid legal footing and can scale.
Common questions from alcohol brands about licensing and compliance.
Usually yes. Even if a co-packer or contract facility makes your product, if you own the brand and put it into commerce you typically need federal authorization, most commonly by operating as a non-distilling producer/marketer under an arrangement with a permitted facility, or by holding your own basic permit depending on structure. Under the FAA Act and TTB rules, the entity that holds title and markets the product often needs to be on the COLA and may need its own permit or a properly documented alternating/contract arrangement. Simply "owning a brand" does not exempt you from compliance. We determine the right structure for your model, whether you need your own permit, an alternating proprietorship, or a documented contract arrangement, and file it.
These are the two main ways to bring a brand to market without building your own licensed plant. In a contract (or co-packing) arrangement, a permitted producer makes and packages the product for you under their own permit and their name is generally on the compliance filings. In a non-distilling producer / alternating arrangement, you hold your own permit and produce at a host facility on an alternating basis, giving you more control and putting your brand on the COLA as the producer. Each has different implications for who is liable for compliance, whose reduced tax rates apply, and how labels read. We explain the tradeoffs for your goals and set up whichever structure fits, with the paperwork done correctly so the TTB recognizes it.
Yes. Regardless of who physically produces the product, most beverage alcohol sold in interstate commerce needs an approved Certificate of Label Approval (COLA), and many products need formula approval first, flavored spirits, RTDs, hard seltzers with added ingredients, and specialty products commonly require formulas. The COLA names a responsible permit holder, which is why brand owners need to understand whether they or their co-packer hold that role. We prepare and file the formulas and COLAs for your brand, make sure the labels carry all mandatory statements and correctly identify the producer/bottler, and clear common rejection issues before submission, so your launch isn't delayed by a labeling hold. See TTB labeling guidance.
Getting into distribution means satisfying the three-tier system: your product must be produced/imported by a licensed tier-one entity, sold through licensed wholesalers, and registered in each state where it will sell. Practically, that means securing the federal production/import compliance, then handling state brand/label registrations and distributor appointments in your target markets, work that has to be done before a distributor can legally sell your product there. Franchise laws then shape the distributor relationship. We handle the state brand registrations and distributor designations, coordinate with your co-packer or import structure on the federal side, and sequence market entry so your brand is legally sellable in each state as your distribution grows.
It depends on your product type and structure. DtC shipping is most established for wine and is governed state by state; beer and spirits DtC is far more limited and prohibited in many states. To ship DtC you generally need to be (or work through) a licensed producer with the appropriate DtC shipping permits in each destination state, plus sales-tax registration and reporting there. A pure brand owner without production licensing usually cannot ship DtC on its own, the licensed producer in your structure typically holds that right. We assess whether your product and structure can support DtC, identify the states where it's viable, and file the shipping licenses and tax registrations to build a compliant program.
A multistate brand launch layers several workstreams: federal production/import compliance and COLAs/formulas for the products, then, in each state, brand/label registration, distributor appointments, and any franchise-law considerations, plus DtC licensing if you ship direct. Each state has its own forms, fees, and timelines, and the work must be sequenced so the product is legally sellable market by market. Missing a state brand registration is a common reason a launch stalls in a given market. We build and manage the multistate launch: confirm the federal side is solid, file the state brand registrations and distributor designations, set up any DtC and tax accounts, and coordinate timing so your rollout stays on schedule and compliant.
It depends on how the arrangement is structured, and this is exactly the question brand owners most often get wrong. In a straight contract/co-packing setup, the permitted co-packer usually holds the production permit and appears on the COLA, so they carry much of the federal production compliance, but you as the brand owner still carry state brand-registration, distribution, and often marketing/advertising compliance, and your contract should specify who does what. In an alternating/non-distilling producer structure, you hold more of the compliance yourself. We clarify exactly where responsibility sits in your arrangement, make sure nothing falls through the cracks between you and your co-packer, and handle the pieces that are yours.
Yes, this is one of the best times to bring us in, because the structure you choose at the start determines your compliance burden, your tax treatment, and how easily you can scale. We help new brand owners decide between contract production, an alternating proprietorship, or their own permit; set up the federal side (permits, COLAs, formulas); and build the state brand-registration and distribution framework for the markets you're targeting. We also flag advertising and labeling rules and, where relevant, DtC options. The goal is a brand that's built on a compliant foundation from day one, so growth doesn't keep tripping over paperwork you didn't set up correctly at launch.