History

Favorite Brands was founded by the LaMantia Family. The LaMantia family has deep roots within the Texas business community. It began in 1978 when family patriarch, Joe LaMantia, Jr, purchased an Anheuser- Busch distributorship in McAllen, TX, L&F Distributors. With the help of his five children, Joe grew L&F to become the premier beer distributorship along the Texas and Mexico border. In 2011 the LaMantia’s purchased a wine, liquor, and beer distributorship creating Favorite Brands. What started as one distributorship in McAllen, TX with 20 employees, grew to 2 distributorships with 13 warehouses and more than 1,200 employees in Texas and New Mexico.

Favorite Brands has continued to grow at exponential rates, going from one warehouse in Dallas then into Houston, TX; Austin, TX; and Albuquerque, NM. Understanding the cutthroat business of the beer, wine and liquor industry, the LaMantia’s quickly recruited some of the best salesmen and managers in the business. The 200+ employees at Favorite Brands are arguably some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry.

Along with their knowledgeable employees, Favorite Brands prides itself with a unique and elite portfolio of some of the best craft and import beer, and boutique wine and liquors from all over the world.

While business is important to the LaMantia family, their multi-generational family involvement and their strong commitment to the communities they service through Favorite Brands and L&F is what sets them apart. Joe, his five children, and his eighteen grandchildren are all working at either L&F or Favorite Brands. Each one of them is focused with bettering their communities, primarily through their family’s education foundation, Stars Scholarship Fund. Through Stars, the LaMantia family, along with their community partners, have raised more than 25 million dollars for college scholarships. 100 percent of the 25 million dollars has gone directly toward funding more than 12,000 scholarships, since 2001.