Category: Crisis Response
News and articles pertaining to the pandemic and the economic recovery
News Time to #reconnect: European Brewers Show Support for Hospitality Sector
Bars and restaurants – and particularly those that are smaller businesses – will need ‘targeted, ongoing and continued support’ as they reopen, says the Brewers of Europe. With one in three beers in Europe sold in hospitality, its success is closely linked to the fortunes of the beer industry as a whole.
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News How One Brewery Saved Their Business with Self-Distribution
With brewery tasting rooms closed in many states and the on-premise business still soft, some breweries are finding that self-distribution into the off-premise sector – where beer sales are booming – is saving their business. Even with the pandemic, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing in Columbus, Ohio has increased their production to its highest point ever, with beer production up 34% this year.
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News Nielsen Reports Uptick in On-Premise Visits
A bit of optimism may be surfacing as indicated by Nielsen on-premise data which shows that overall visitation remains relatively stable with a slight increase of 38% dining out in the last two weeks. But it is also regional, with New York showing a significant increase, Texas and Florida staying flat and California beginning to decline.
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News Modern Times Furloughs Hospitality Staff at SoCal Locations
Modern Times Brewing announced via their web site that they had to furlough most of our staff at the Dankness Dojo location in Los Angeles and will be furloughing employees in their hospitably division at their San Diego locations.
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News Australian Beer Industry Fights Tax Increase
The beer tax in Australia has automatically increased by CPI every six months since 1983. But this year, in the midst of a global pandemic, which as devastated the Australian hospitality sector, the Brewers Association of Australia is asking for a halt to the scheduled increase.
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News Craft Up in Off-Sale but Many Struggle Due to Lose of On-Premise Business
The surge in grocery store sales has benefited high-end, full-flavor beer brands the most with craft sales up almost 23% and imports up 15% compared to subpremiums which are up 11% over last year for the period of early March to late June. Total beer sales are up 27.5%, driven by hard seltzers, which fall into the beer category for scan data, and are up a whopping 246.7%.
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News On-Premise and Brewery Shutdowns Continue Across the Country
Confusion reigned in California late last week as state health officials issued new guidelines for 19 counties that ordered breweries and bars to close down – and then revised the orders 48 hours later to allow breweries and bars to reopen as long as all seating was outside and all alcohol was sold in conjunction with food. The 19 counties make up about 70% of the state’s population.
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News England Celebrates Fourth of July for a Different Reason – Pubs Reopen
In what some are calling ‘Super Saturday,” England allowed pubs to reopen today along with restaurants and hairdressers. Some waiting in line as early as 6:00am to enjoy their first draft pint in almost four months.
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News Pivoting to New Business Models – Like a $600 Dinner
With seating capacities reduced due to social distancing and many people wary of going out to restaurants and breweries, one esteemed sushi restaurant in Chicago has reopened its indoor space for diners seeking an unusual private dining experience for the hefty price of $600 per person. The hefty price buys out the entire restaurant for the evening for groups of two to four people with only one seating per night. It is a temporary pivot, but a creative one.
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News Is To-Go Here To-Stay? Webinar Addresses the New Era of Take-Out
Takeout and delivery were the salvation of the casual dining market during the bleakest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers had no other choice if they wanted the convenience of a restaurant meal, and operators were eager to snag whatever revenues they could while dining rooms were dark. Now, with dine-in service resuming, what will happen to the off-premise business that rose to meet the needs of both parties? In a webinar focused on the issue preoccupying casual operators today, three battlefield observers will explore how to-go business changed during the crisis and what the lasting effects may be for takeout, delivery and catering. Spoiler alert: It won’t be a recap of what the industry saw in 2019.
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News Calif. Governor Closes Breweries and Bars in Some Counties
California governor Gavin Newsom today ordered seven counties to close bars brewery tasting rooms due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. Brewpubs, breweries, bars, and pubs must close until those establishments are allowed to resume operation per state guidance and local permission, unless they are offering sit-down, dine-in meals. Alcohol can only be sold in the same transaction as a meal.
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News TTB Extends Waiver to File Notice When Destroying Beer
Due to the ongoing and “significant business disruptions” due to COVID-19, the TTB is extending the waiver that brewers file a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the TTB when destroying beer. The original waiver was due to expire on July 1st and has been extended to September 1st.
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News How Brewers Can Help the Retail Trade During the Pandemic Without Breaking the Law
The food and beverage industry laid off 5.5 million jobs in April alone and many breweries are looking at ways to help servers, bartenders, cicerones and others who were furloughed from the on-premise sector. Along with the lay-offs, many small on-premise businesses which have long supported craft brewers are also struggling to stay in business as the re-opening process begins.
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News Going Backwards – Some Phoenix Bars and Restaurants Reclosing
After reports of food industry workers testing positive for coronavirus in the Phoenix area, a number of bars and restaurants have decided to temporarily re-close for on-site dining according to the Phoenix New Times. Many of those who have decided to remain open are announcing that face masks will be required on the premises.
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