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Crisis Response

News and articles pertaining to the pandemic and the economic recovery

On-Premise Sales May Be Back to Pre-Covid Levels

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On-premise sales for the 12-week period ending January 29th, 2022 were up 17% over the same period two years ago, indicating that on-premise business is back to pre-pandemic times.

Not surprisingly, sales were much higher over one year ago in the middle of the pandemic with on-premise sales up 34% for the same 12-week period ending January 29th.

According to the CGA report, “Velocity and week-on-week performance continue to follow a very similar pattern to 2019 & 2020, further reinforcing that the on-premise has returned to normal seasonal trading patterns. Latest trends have been flat or slightly positive, with a +3% increase to January 22 followed by flat trends (0%) in the most recent week. This performance is comparable to pre-covid trends of 2019 and 2020, slightly outperforming those years by +7% and +2% respectively.”

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Russian River Postpones Pliny the Younger Release

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The surge in omicron has many industry events reevaluating plans to cancel, postpone or go forward with events that are planned for the coming weeks and months. One well-known event, Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Younger release has been postponed until late March. The annual event draws beer consumers from around the country who travel to the Santa Rosa, California brewery for a long wait in line to buy the popular double IPA.

In addition to a recent local county health order banning large gatherings and asking residents to stay at home for the next 30 days, the company said that 20 brewery employees have tested positive for COVID with several more out sick or in quarantine due to exposure. “We, as a company, have never had this many employees out at one time for any reason, including wildfire evacuations. The first week of January 2022, we were forced to close both brewpubs for several days, and the following week offering limited menus and reduced hours due to lack of staffing. This is unprecedented,” the statement said.

Many news organizations have reported in recent days that health experts are hopeful that COVID cases may start dropping off dramatically soon, leading event organizers to ponder their plans.

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TTB Extends Temporary Allowances for the Manufacture of Hand Sanitize

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Due to the continuation of the Food and Drug Administration’s temporary guidance related to the manufacture of hand sanitizer and denatured alcohol for use in hand sanitizer, the TTB announced today that the agency will be extending the authorizations provided in TTB G 2020-1C through December 31, 2021.

The TTB noted that they may modify or discontinue this guidance prior to December 31, 2021 if FDA discontinues its guidance prior to that date.

You can see the TTB guidance “Production of Hand Sanitizer to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic” here.

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UK’s COVID ‘Winter Plan’ to Allow Pubs to Remain Open

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The UK Government issued a ‘Winter Plan’ which allows pubs to stay open, even if further measures are required to control a surge in the virus. The Winter Plan lays out wide ranging measures for tackling COVED during autumn and winter in England.

Following prime minister Boris Johnson’s statement in a press conference yesterday, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) described the Winter Plan as “very welcome news” to hear that “powers to close-down or apply restrictions to our pubs will be repealed”.

More details on how the plan impacts the pub business here.

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Feds to Mandate Businesses with Over 100 Employees to Require Vaccine or Testing of All Employees

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President Biden is set to announce today a new federal rule that will require that all businesses with 100 or more employees to have all workers either fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing for the virus.

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will formally issue the rule in coming weeks, a senior administration official told reporters. The fact that this will be issued by OSHA (and not just CDC) gives the order especially strong incentive for businesses to comply. According to the New York Times, OSHA’s authority does not mean it won’t face pushback or lawsuits challenging the order. And enforcement may be a challenge, particularly since there is no national system for employers to track or report vaccination status.

This is a developing story. ProBrewer will have updates. More details here from the New York Times here on the expected announcement.

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Heineken to Invest $52 Million in Neighborhood Pubs Across UK

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Heineken will pump around $52 million into its Star and Garter pubs estate in the UK to upgrade about 80 of its pubs. Each pub will receive between $171,000 to $550,000 to make the pubs more comfortable and stylish inside as well as improving beer gardens. Better quality food will also be introduced – which is expected to account for around 30% of sales – as well as good coffee and premium spirits, wines, lagers and ciders.

Around 700 pubs across England and Wales are set to benefit, with the money mainly boosting pubs in suburban and high street locations that are within a 10-minute walk from residential areas. Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs & Bars said that people had rediscovered the joy of their neighborhood pub as a result of the pandemic over the last year, and were “opting to stay local,” according to an article in The Drinks Business.

See the full story here.

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Outdoor Seating Options May Be Key for Brewery Tasting Rooms Heading into Fall

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Don’t give up that outdoor space yet. Outdoor seating may continue to be an important factor for consumers still worrying about COVID in the Delta variant era.

The on-premise consulting firm CGA has said in a recent COVID impact report that over a third (36%) of consumers only use or have a preference for outdoor seating when visiting bars and restaurants.

“Looking forward to Fall and Winter, outdoor dining will continue to play a significant part. Less than one in five (18%) of those currently using outdoor seating say they will switch exclusively to indoor seating during these seasons. Three in five (58%) will use outdoor seating the same amount as now, with a quarter still using it, but with less regularity. Continuing to provide this facility will, therefore, remain important even in the colder weather,” the report said.

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On-Premise Sales Leveling Off But Still Ahead of Pre-Pandemic 2019

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Average on-premise sales trends have leveled off in the latest 2 weeks following months of growth, but velocity remains strong vs the pre-pandemic year 2019 with sales in the latest two weeks up 18% over the same period two years ago, according to CGA. The last 12 weeks are up 46% versus 2019.

Sales continue to be way above the same period last year, when much of the on-premise remained in full or partial closure due to the pandemic. Sales for the last two weeks are up 60% over same period 2020.

CGA is an on-premise measurement, insight and research consultancy to food and drink businesses. Their latest full report can be seen here.

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SF Imposes Proof of Vaccination to Enter On-Premise Establishments – Other Cities May Do the Same

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In a move that will includes brewery tasting rooms and brewpubs, San Francisco will require customers to show proof of complete vaccination against COVID-19 to enter on-premise dining and drinking establishments as well as gyms and other indoor venues. The requirement will take affect starting Aug. 20th for patrons and Oct. 13th for employees.

Additionally, San Francisco’s order creates a new proof of vaccination requirement for large events at indoor venues, requiring attendees who are age 12 or older at events with 1,000 people or more to provide proof of vaccination. Previously, state and local rules required proof of vaccination or testing to attend indoor mega-events with 5,000 people or more.

The mandate will be more stringent than the requirement announced by New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio last week. San Francisco will require proof of full vaccination for all customers and staff, while New York mandated proof of at least one shot for indoor activities. It will take effect next Friday. The updates to San Francisco’s Safer Return Together Health Order are a response to the continued spread of COVID-19 most recently driven by the Delta variant primarily among unvaccinated people.

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Bar Owners Alliance of San Francisco Votes to Require Proof of Vaccination for Indoor Service

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The Bar Owners Alliance of San Francisco voted today in favor of requiring vaccination proof or a recent negative test to enter all of its member bars starting Thursday, July 29. The Alliance represents more than 500 bar owners in the city.

San Francisco health officials recently recommended indoor mask-wearing as COVID-19 cases surge, but Ben Bleiman, the San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance’s president, has said bars in the city are siding with the notion of keeping their staff and patrons safe.

The requirement only applies to indoor seating and not to customers seated outdoors.

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These Breweries Boost Workplace Morale by Encouraging Communication and Incentivizing Their Employees in Unique, Fun and Meaningful Ways

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The following is the fourth and final article written by Tara Nurin exclusively for ProBrewer. Visit the ProBrewer Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion resource page for additional DEI articles and resources.

To grossly understate the situation, it’s a tough time to own a craft brewery in the United States. In addition to the usual playbook of challenges, over the past few years you brewery owners have had to negotiate: the rising cost of inputs; tariffs on aluminum and steel; declining sales growth in the sector; shifting expectations/demands around inclusivity; the question of whether your company will have to defend itself against any accusations of sexual impropriety or abusive practices; a deep labor shortage; and all the other issues related to COVID.

Though you and your business partners are the ones forced to directly shoulder the financial burden of navigating these unexpected twists and turns, your employees feel them too, perhaps just as deeply. Some of these hardships impact them acutely — say, for instance, if the pandemic robbed them of their livelihoods then the labor shortage required them to work in overdrive to overcome scant staffing — while the stress from others may trickle down from top management and spread through the ranks to create a pervasive sense of exhaustion and dread.

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UK On-Premise Sales Down as Restrictions Remain in Place. US Trending Above 2019

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On-premise sales in the UK for the week ending June 26th were down by 28% on the same week in 2019, according to the CGA’s Drinks Recovery Tracker. It is the third week in a row that the comparison with 2019 has weakened. The UK has stalled the full reopening of the on-premise sector due to an increase in COVID cases. The government has said that most restrictions on bars and restaurants should end on July 17th.

Meanwhile, in the US where all states have allowed bars and restaurants to be open indoors, either completely, or with capacity limits, on-premise sales are up 34% versus 2019 for the week ending June 26th.

The latest CGA report for the US on-premise sales here.

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Business is Slow as Pubs Reopen Indoor Seating in UK

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Sales in pubs across the UK remained very slow in the first week of reopening indoors with a decline of 20% compared to the same period in 2019.

Nearly 95% of the pubs have reopened for indoor service but restrictions are still in place. Those include operating table service only with no standing drinking allowed, restricting the size of groups to six, enforcing social distancing, and ensuring face masks are worn other than when sat at a table inside or if outdoors.

The government has a tentative plan, depending on COVID caseloads, to remove the restrictions on June 21st.

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On-Premise Sales Surpassing 2019 Numbers

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As expected, on-premise alcohol sales are far ahead of 2020 due to the shut down one year ago. On-premise velocity is +120% higher than the same time last year for the one-week period ending May 29, according to the on-premise consulting firm CGA.

But more surprising is that the market is growing considerably versus 2019, up +29%. That is the biggest growth versus two years prior than CGA has ever seen.

According to the report, 98% of states have bars open indoors (either completely, or with capacity measures in place) and 100% of states have restaurants open indoors to some capacity.

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AB to Buy the Country a Round in Vaccination Promotion if White House Goal is Met

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Anheuser-Busch has announced a national campaign in partnership with the White House to help meet President Biden’s goal to have 70% of American adults vaccinated adults by July 4th.

Called the “Let’s Grab A Beer” initiative, AB will buy a beer (or seltzer of course) for anyone (over 21 of course) in the country (excluding AL, CA & TX, of course).

The giveaway from AB will begin when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines that the United States has reached the goal of 70% of the eligible population is vaccinated and will end seven days later, according to a statement by AB. Any adult 21 and older will be able to get a $5 virtual debit card that can be used to buy one AB product, including beers, seltzers and nonalcoholic products.

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Corona Remains ‘Most Valuable Brand’ Despite Name Association to Virus

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Despite images of Corona bottles languishing on supermarket shelves due to its association with the pandemic, the beer brand remains the world’s most valuable, according to a Brand Finance report.

The newly released Brand Finance Alcoholic Drinks 2021 report says Corona had a 28% drop in brand value to the tune of $2.243 billion, bringing its current brand value in at $5.8billion.

During the last year, Corona has met some consumer hesitancy, especially in the US, where some consumers have been apprehensive about purchasing Corona products due to the similarity in name to that of coronavirus.

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Deadline Nears for Restaurant Revitalization Fund Applications

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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced this week that eligible businesses have until Monday, May 24, 8:00 pm (eastern) to submit applications to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF).

According to the Brewers Association, there are still some funds available to the small hospitality businesses such as breweries. When the legislation was drafted, Congress set aside $5 billion for applicants with gross receipts of not more than $500,000. To ensure an equitable distribution of funds, the SBA created additional funding allocations of $500 million for applicants with 2019 gross receipts not more than $50,000, and $4 billion for applicants with 2019 gross receipts between $500,000 and $1,500,000.

More details and how to apply here.

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Reopening: A Third of All Bars and Restaurants Now Open for Indoor Service Across the Country

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The latest COVID-19 Impact Report for the on-premise trade from CGA shows that 36% of all restaurants and 32% of all bars across the country are now either partially or completely open for indoor seating and service.

Some states, such as California, still have certain counties in which bars must be closed for indoor service. But all states now allow at least some indoor dining at restaurants and breweries that serve food.

On-premise sales continue to grow with restaurants and bars reporting an increase in sales of 12% in the week ending May 15 versus the previous week.

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Texas is the Latest State to Make Cocktails ‘To-Go’ Permanent

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Texas Governor Abbott has signed HB 1094 into law making permanent restaurants’ ability to sell alcohol with pickup and delivery food orders.

The bill requires that all alcoholic beverages be sealed either in their original, manufacturer-sealed container, or in a tamper-proof container that is labeled with the business’ name and the words “alcoholic beverage.”

Alcohol to-go has been temporarily allowed in many states across the country to provide relief for the struggling on-premise business. A number of states have passed legislation to make it permanent.

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