A longstanding exclusive distributor is seeking damages after being removed from its role distributing a beverage company's products in southern Illinois and the St. Louis metropolitan area. According to a complaint filed on May 19, 2026 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York by Southern Illinois Beverage, Inc., doing business as SIB Distributing, the defendant Brooklyn Bottling of Milton, New York, Inc. is accused of breaching their contract and wrongfully terminating the distribution agreement.
The lawsuit was submitted by Southern Illinois Beverage, Inc., which alleges that Brooklyn Bottling terminated its exclusive distributor agreement without proper cause or process. The filing details that SIB had served as the exclusive distributor for Brooklyn Bottling's Tropical Fantasy Cocktail products for more than a decade under a written agreement dating back to 2012.
According to the complaint, SIB claims it consistently performed its obligations and expanded market presence for Tropical Fantasy products throughout its assigned territory until 2021. However, beginning around 2022 and continuing through mid-2025, SIB alleges that Brooklyn Bottling repeatedly failed to supply enough product to meet market demand. This alleged supply shortfall resulted in lost sales opportunities and approximately $100,000 per year in lost gross profit between 2022 and 2024.
Despite these challenges, SIB states it continued servicing customers and maintained sales performance. The complaint notes that from July 31, 2024 through July 31, 2025, SIB sold nearly 50,000 cases generating over $864,000 in sales—on track to surpass previous years’ results. On July 28, 2025, a representative from Brooklyn Bottling confirmed in writing that SIB remained the authorized exclusive distributor.
The dispute escalated when Brooklyn Bottling sent SIB a letter on August 14, 2025 citing alleged breaches such as payment defaults and failure to maintain inventory levels or adequate sales infrastructure. The letter demanded that SIB cure these issues within thirty days. SIB contends these alleged breaches were pretextual because they stemmed from Brooklyn Bottling’s own failure to ship sufficient product during this period.
SIB further alleges that during the cure period required by Brooklyn Bottling’s notice—while it was attempting to comply by submitting payments and placing orders—the defendant withheld prepaid product shipments without explanation. For example, between September 11-12, 2025 SIB wired over $43,000 for three truckloads of product but did not receive them in time to meet inventory requirements set out by Brooklyn Bottling.
Additionally, the complaint describes how a tornado struck SIB’s facility on March 16, 2025 causing about $1.6 million in property damage—a force majeure event which was reported to Brooklyn Bottling but allegedly disregarded with no accommodations made.
While this cure period was ongoing and before any official termination notice was issued or acknowledged by both parties as final according to contract terms, SIB claims that Brooklyn Bottling began transferring portions of its exclusive territory to another distributor named Chick Fritz around September 1, 2025. This transfer allegedly violated Article II(A) of their agreement granting exclusivity rights to SIB while the contract remained active.
SIB reports learning about this territorial change when one of its customers informed them Chick Fritz would now be supplying Tropical Fantasy products as of September 1. When questioned directly by SIB’s principal on September 2 about whether Chick Fritz had been given rights over their territory—including losing accounts like Roll N Up chain—Brooklyn Bottling did not deny these actions.
On September 16, 2025 Alanna F. Miller Esq., Chief Legal Officer for Brooklyn Bottling notified SIB via email and telephone that their agreement was terminated effective immediately due to alleged uncured breaches by SIB. The plaintiff asserts this termination was itself wrongful because any claimed breaches were either excused by prior failures on Brooklyn Bottling’s part or were made impossible for SIB to remedy due to withheld shipments during the cure period.
The complaint also alleges post-termination violations: specifically that Brooklyn Bottling failed both to repurchase remaining saleable inventory at laid-in cost within fifteen days as required under Article V(B)(4), and failed to pay termination compensation owed under Article V(C)—which would amount to approximately $355,247 based on recent profits—as well as not fully returning all prepaid funds following attempted refunds after termination.
In totality the lawsuit lists seven causes of action including breach of contract (failure to supply; violation of exclusivity; wrongful termination; failure to pay termination compensation; failure to repurchase inventory), breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; and unjust enrichment (pleaded alternatively). For each claim damages are sought in amounts believed substantially above $75,000 or determined at trial—with specific requests for compensatory damages exceeding $300,000 plus interest where applicable.
The case identifies Boruchov Gabovich & Associates P.C., with attorney Lev Gabovich signing as counsel for Southern Illinois Beverage Inc., under Civil Action No. 1:26-cv-2967.