Joe LaMantia Jr. and his five children, Val, Joe III, Tony, Greg and Steve, of L&F Distributors and Favorite Brands Distributing
Texas and New Mexico businessman, Joe LaMantia Jr., of L&F Distributors and Favorite Brands Distributing
L&F Distributors of McAllen Partners, Val and Nick LaMantia; General Manager, Ricardo Vazquez; and Drivers, Warehouse Staff and Merchandisers
Joe LaMantia Jr. and his five children, Val, Joe III, Tony, Greg and Steve, of L&F Distributors and Favorite Brands Distributing
IN TEXAS & NEW MEXICO
45 Years of Industry Experience
More than a century ago, a young Sicilian boy dreamed about life in America. Without knowing a single word of English, he decided to jump aboard a boat around 1910, and headed to New York. He made his way to Chicago, where he made ends meet by selling produce out of a cart.
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This cart eventually became the LaMantia Bros-Arrigo Company— the largest in the nation between the 20s and 60s.
Joe LaMantia Sr.
The LaMantia name also expanded with the birth of who we deem as the Patriarch of L&F Distributors: Joe LaMantia Jr.
Joe Jr. joined the family business at a very young age, eventually becoming responsible for operations in South Texas. One of his greatest accomplishments during this era was the joint venture he negotiated with Farmers in Mexico, which positioned The LaMantia Produce Company as the only one in the country to sell asparagus year-round.
One of Joe Jr.’s greatest love was beer. Together with his business partner, Fred Farias, he made several attempts at contacting national breweries, requesting wholesale licenses for distribution rights. During the 70s, his dream became reality as Anheuser-Busch granted them distribution rights within Hidalgo County for their household beer brands like Budweiser, Busch and Michelob Lager.
On December 3rd of 1978, LaMantia and Farias Distributors began operating in McAllen, Texas—where our company continues being headquartered. Joe Jr. established his personal values as the company values: Humble. Aggressive. And Honest. With the help of 10 employees and his five children— Val, Joe III, Tony, Greg and Steve— Joe Jr. grew market share and saw Bud Light quickly become the top selling beer in South Texas.
Today, LaMantia & Family Distributors has more than 1,200 employees working out of seven warehouses throughout Texas and one in Roswell, New Mexico. We have thousands of beverage types, like craft beer, seltzers, wines, spirits and even non-alcoholic, like Red Bull and Nesquik.
We serve more than 25 Texas counties and five in New Mexico. With the acquisition of our sister warehouse, Favorite Brands, we have expanded into Central and North Texas and Northern New Mexico, for a total of more than 1,400 talented employees and industry experts.