COVID-19 has dramatically altered the way we consume beer. Speaking for myself, I’ve definitely seen an uptick in the amount of beer sitting in my fridge at home; and it makes sense, we can’t go out and enjoy a pint, so drinking at home has become the new norm.
While there has been a significant amount of problems created by COVID, one of the positive developments that has come out of this is the sheer number of craft breweries that are delivering straight to your door. It’s a service that we didn’t know we needed, and now that it’s here, I can’t imagine a time without it.
Simply put, breweries should keep home delivery as a standard part of their business moving forward.
Now I know that home deliveries and take out sales are literally the only way breweries are able to sell product right now, and it’s not the most cost effective sales channel, but the connection to your customers can’t be beat! Will all breweries be able to keep up home delivery once things return to “normal”? No definitely not, but out of this I truly hope that some take serious consideration into keeping some sort of delivery service in place.
All the sales channels are already built. All the heavy work in creating square accounts, online stores and distribution channels are done. Why would a brewery throw all that out?
So for what it’s worth, here’s my suggestion. Consider a once/twice per week delivery option, it lowers the cost of the current delivery model but still maintains what customers have become used to. For those breweries that may be too small or too understaffed to run a delivery program, consider a collective like Beervan.ca.
I don’t believe this to be a crazy idea; in fact, I founded a now defunct BC craft beer delivery service called Pint Post years ago. Admittedly there were some challenges, but even back then I could see the appetite for home delivery. Now that we’ve had the opportunity to experience it on a mass scale, please don’t take it away from us!
Ale/Sessions 