Things are Still Happening
Hello all. I find I have less energy to put into blogging these days. Nevertheless, interesting things do continue to unfold during this weird time in which many of us are sitting isolated at home. So, a few of the more interesting things, beginning with an overview of Where We Are (TM).
Beer Sales
Justin Kendall has a detailed report at Brewbound of current sales figures from Nielsen. Of note:
Off-premise sales continue to be up, but they’ve now settled into a plateau. For the past three weeks, sales have been about 19% higher than the same week last year. 40% of craft sales are on-premise, and this obviously doesn’t help there.
Large-format packages, 24- and 30-packs, are doing especially well, and six-packs are actually down.
People are buying trusted brands and only 2.3% said they were splurging on expensive brands.
Seltzer sales are up around 300% and now constitute 8% of beer sales—a level it took craft decades to achieve.
Frequent on-premise drinkers (which includes the core of craft fans) are doing their best to support local restaurants and pubs now.
Beer Sales Part 2
Brewers Association economist Bart Watson has a sobering post out today about whether beer sales really are up and what that means. You should read the whole thing, so I won’t summarize. Let’s just say that the news is not as rosy as the picture we see looking only at grocery-store sales.
The Future of Beer Sales: Gamified Apps?
Great Notion, Portland’s youth-focused hazy-and-milkshake brewery, has released an app that allows users to order beer for delivery—but a whole lot more. It’s an immersive environment with animations of the creatures that appear on the brewery’s labels. The brewery has gamified the buying process, so users can collect “rewards” the more engaged they are.
This isn’t a new idea—but it’s new to beer. Great Notion is creating a sealed world in which fans can avoid non-Great Notion retailers or distributors. They are busy opening new taprooms in Oregon and Washington, and now with the app, customers will be able to dial up cans without leaving their home. It’s not a project that would work for very many breweries, but Great Notion, with the incredible devotion they’ve cultivated from fans, is in a unique position. We’ll have to watch this and see if it’s the future of beer, or a rare opportunity for a select type of brewery.
Double Mountain’s New Foundation
In an effort to support their workers and the community during the COVID-19 crisis, Double Mountain has established a nonprofit foundation: “The primary mission of the Double Mountain Foundation is to provide assistance to current and former Double Mountain staff in need of help with shelter, food, & health care costs. Moreover, the Double Mountain Foundation is seeking additional funding to establish a broader program that will include food assistance for any hospitality worker in the wider Hood River Gorge community displaced by the crisis.”
Matt Swihart, one of the founders of Double Mountain, reached out privately to explain that this developed organically as a way to help hospitality workers in Hood River, hard hit by this crisis. Matt’s been reaching out to other companies to see if they need help, and it led to a central nonprofit to help out. You can support by following the link. And Matt and everyone at Double Mountain—good on you. It’s amazing to see the response of so many in these desperate times.