California beer, wine and weed companies get creative during coronavirus stay-at-home order
As Californians shelter at home due to the coronavirus, wineries, breweries and cannabis dispensaries are trying to figure out how to get their products to the customers.
Breweries and wineries have been feeling the pinch ever since the Gov. Gavin Newsom directed them to close tap rooms and tasting rooms to slow the virus’ spread.
Since then, businesses have had to get creative to find ways to get their products out. Businesses have branched out into online ordering, home delivery, curbside pickup, special discounts and other offers.
Check with your favorite local brewery, winery or dispensary to see what special services they are offering at this time.
Wine
Jack Gorman, executive director of the Amador Vintners Association, acknowledges the challenges of the present moment.
“It’s going to be rough. It’s going to be a very rough period,” he said.
Gorman said that there has “absolutely” been a drop in business in recent days, as more and more counties issue directives or orders to shelter-at-home and bars and restaurants are ordered closed.
Gorman described how last weekend was incredibly busy, despite the rainy weather.
“That all changed Sunday afternoon,” Gorman said.
Sunday was the day that Newsom asked all bars, wineries, night clubs and brewpubs to close.
Gorman said that wineries are generally following a three-pronged strategy to get by as COVID-19 spreads: Encouraging online orders, offering “curbside pickup,” and expanded social media engagement, including hosting virtual wine tastings and online happy hours.
For now, wine production continues at Clarksburg’s Bogle Vineyards, albeit with new work practices such as social distancing, Jody Bogle said in a statement.
But there have been lots of changes.
“With so many unknowns, we felt strongly it was appropriate to shut down our tasting room, including tastings, bottle sales, events and picnicking,” Bogle said.
Bogle is still taking wine orders for direct shipment to customers, and offering free shipping to wine club members and a 20 percent discount to non-members for orders placed through April 1.
“Obviously, this situation is changing rapidly and our family is carefully watching, monitoring and evaluating all procedures so we can reduce any risks to our staff, their families and our community,” Bogle said.
Beer
Right now, most craft beer breweries are just trying to stay open as long as they can, said Tom McCormick, executive director of the California Craft Brewers Association.
“As you can imagine, a lot of our members are really in a tough position right now. Many of them are laying off staff, really struggling like everyone else,” McCormick said.
McCormick said that those breweries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are those that depend on on-premise sales, such as brewpubs.
“Those breweries are looking at alternative ways to get their products to the customers that want their products,” he said.
That includes a lot of breweries offering sales on their products. Many breweries are offering online or drive-up sales of growlers, bottles and cans, McCormick said, while others will deliver directly to the customer.
“Most attention is going towards how to keep operations open,” McCormick said.
One Sacramento brewery, Tower Brewing, has found a novel way to continue to attract business: Offering free rolls of toilet paper (one per customer) to people who buy to-go beer.
Other breweries in the Sacramento region, like Urban Roots, Bike Dog, Device, New Glory and Moonraker, are open for pickups.
Marijuana
For many California cannabis businesses, the single biggest challenge right now is being allowed to stay open in areas where shelter-at-home orders are in place.
While San Francisco notably listed cannabis as an “essential business” due to its medicinal properties for some users, other counties have not followed suit, prompting Jerred Kiloh, president of the United Cannabis Business Association, to write a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking that he designate cannabis as essential statewide.
“The whole supply chain of cannabis needs to be deemed an essential business,” Kiloh said.
Kiloh said that cannabis retailers have seen an increase of business of 15 to 25 percent since the coronavirus safety precautions started going into effect.
In Berkeley, the Berkeley Patients Group dispensary is encouraging people to limit their travel by stocking up on supplies by offering a 10 percent discount when you buy four eighths or four extracts.
And in Southern California, cannabis delivery company Moxie has reported an uptick in deliveries of 75 percent. The company is looking at expanding into Northern California, with deliveries potentially available in a week or two, according to a company spokesman.
