Arneson Distributing was founded in 1972
when Al & Rae Ann Arneson bought out
Barthel Beverage from Norb & Martha
Barthel. It was a one truck operation
selling Grain Belt and Hauenstein to 40
accounts.
After a few years Al realized he had to
expand by acquiring territory, brands,
or new products. At that point the best
option was to develop something new.
After much research he contacted Warren
Marti, president of the August Schell
Brewery. Even though Al was not a
Schell’s distributor Warren agreed to
produce a draft root beer as a contract
for Al & Rae Ann Arneson. There by 1919
Classic American Draft Root Beer was
developed. 1919 Continues to grow in
popularity and distribution to this
day.
Several years after the Arneson’s
founded 1919 they developed Buddy’s
original sodas. These bottled sodas are
also still distributed and marketed by
the Arnesons.
Their third venture was to acquire the
Hauenstein Beer label from G. Heileman
Brewery in 1990.
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The Arneson’s have continued to grow and
repositioned the labels they own
according to legal requirements. The
Arneson Distributing Beer business has
acquired more territory and brands and
now covers much of south-central
Minnesota with a variety of products.
The Arneson two oldest children are
currently employed by the business.
Toby Arneson, sales manager, has worked
for the company in many capacities for
years. Their daughter Ann Steffl is
human resource administrator and
controller. Their youngest son, Ted is
gainfully employed in California and
serves as a consultant for the company.
Their operation has grown by trucks,
brands which they fully support, and
employees whom they respect and value. |
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As a company, we need to produce
superior sales efforts and service on
behalf of our suppliers – including our
own products. We need to treat each
customer as though they were our one and
only customer.
We need to build good relationships with
suppliers, identify their policies and
execute their programs in order to
achieve their profit goals.
We need to operate our business for
profit and make every effort to support
the individuals and businesses that
support us.
As a licensed distributor of
alcoholic beverages, we must conduct our
business with conformity of all federal,
state, local laws and regulations. As a
corporate citizen we must set the
highest moral and ethical standards.
Finally, we must be
viewed by our employees as “a good place
to work.” Our people must be treated
fairly and equally. They must be given
the opportunity to develop skills,
uphold standards, and be professional
examples of the community in which we
live and serve.
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