Lewiston is the home of two major beer and wine distributors in the state, Federal Distributors on Lisbon Road and, a half-mile away, Central Distributors on Foss Road.
In the early morning hours, about 4 a.m., the warehouses at both facilities are buzzing as more than 40 distribution trucks are loaded and then head out to deliver products to 1,300 retailers statewide.
The two distributors, each boasting more than 90,000 square feet of warehouse space, handle beer and wine labels ranging from national brands to Maine and New England craft brews.
Each company has a workforce of more than 100 employees. They are two of the eight members of the Maine Beer and Wine Distributors Association, which together pay more than $72 million annually in payroll and benefits, and contribute $350,000 to Maine nonprofit organizations and community programs.
-
- Federal Distributors, located on Lisbon Road in Lewiston
-
- Central Distributors, located on Foss Road in Lewiston.
-
- Darin Meyers, a forklift operator at Central Distributors, loads up a beer distribution truck in the warehouse.
-
- Mike Richardson moves some draft beer kegs in the temperature-controlled draft beer storage facility at the Federal Distributors warehouse. The draft beer is kept at a constant 34 degrees to insure freshness.
-
- Central Distributors salesman James Field taste tests a craft beer in the company’s tasting room.
-
- Chad Wenger fills an order at the Central Distributors warehouse with various brands of beer.
-
- Mike Richardson of Federal Distributors operates a forklift to load beer into the distribution trucks.
-
- Mike Richardson of Federal Distributors uses an automated plastic-wrapping machine on a pallet of beer cases. The wrapping prevents spilling during transport.
-
- Federal Distributors graphic artist Gerry Bonenfant works on producing banners for retailers in their in-house sign shop.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.