Diageo

Diageo is based in London. Scotch, tequila, vodka, gin, and Guinness stout are the core, and Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, and Brown-Forman are the spirits houses that bid for the same backbar and the same retail set.

US state law generally requires a supplier to sell to a distributor who then sells to the retailer. In many states a distributor is aligned with Diageo or with a rival house, so a lost distributor appointment can take a brand out of a metro until a new house is appointed.

Guinness on draught is an on-premise contest for tap handles, separate from the spirits shelf. A bar has a fixed number of taps, and a Diageo draught contract occupies one of them that a competing stout or lager cannot use.

Distributor alignments in open US states decide which salesperson carries Johnnie Walker into stores.

Control states buy spirits through a state authority, a different gate from the open-state distributor.

Guinness tap-handle contracts are local exclusivity on a scarce piece of bar equipment.

A bar owner who wants Don Julio or Guinness on the menu has to buy through the appointed distributor.

Drinkers rarely see the distributor, but a brand missing from the well is often a distribution gap.