Happy Dad was featured in today's edition of Beer Business Daily, one of the beverage industry’s most widely read trade publications. The feature followed a conversation with Happy Dad co-founder and CEO Sam Shahidi recorded at the Beernet Radio studio ahead of a distributor visit in Texas.

The article highlighted several major developments across the business, including Happy Dad’s rapid distribution expansion, retail growth, and recent product innovation.

Over the past year, Happy Dad expanded its distributor network from 76 partners to 258 across the United States. The increase followed the brand’s transition of 15 states from wine and spirits distributors to beer distributors while also expanding into 14 new states. The move helped strengthen Happy Dad’s national distribution footprint and created a more stable network to support continued growth.

Sam spoke about the complexity of the distributor transition and the level of coordination required across markets.

“It wasn’t just a transfer,” Sam said. “They had to purchase a brand for a lot of money, in a category that had a stigma of a dying category.”

He also explained how distribution coverage must be complete across every territory.

“If you have 16 distributors in Florida and one says no,” Sam said, “you can’t call the Molson guy and say, can I use you in this one little county? Everything has to be perfect.”

Beer Business Daily also highlighted the brand’s continued retail momentum. After several years of performance in regional markets, Target has now authorized Happy Dad’s fruit punch and lemonade SKUs for national distribution as part of upcoming spring resets.

The article also discussed the launch of Happy Dad’s 10% ABV lemonade collaboration with Realtree, which entered the growing high ABV flavored beverage segment and introduced new camouflage-inspired packaging designed to stand out on shelf.

Sam noted the impact packaging design can have on consumer perception and sales.

“It is part of the feeling of packaging,” he said.

Beer Business Daily also highlighted Happy Dad’s continued investment in its leadership team. After more than four years operating as CEO, CMO, and CSO simultaneously, Sam recently hired the company’s first Chief Sales Officer, Eric Holloway, who previously ran the western region for BeatBox Beverages, as the company continues scaling its national sales organization.

Looking ahead, Happy Dad closed 2025 at approximately 3.55 million cases and is targeting more than 4.1 million cases in 2026. Growth will continue to be driven by deeper convenience store penetration, expanded sampling programs, and continued activation across the brand’s national distribution network.

Listen to the full episode on YouTube for more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qilwRkiDBKw