Craft Industry COVID-19 Update - May 26, 2020

photo courtesy of Funkwerks

“In that power of self-control lies the seed of eternal freedom.” Paramahansa Yogananda

As the world enters into a re-opening phase, I find myself bristling at the phrase “new normal” that keeps getting thrown around. I react this way because of the state of flux we all currently exist in. I don’t want to accept ambiguous new rules and haphazardly written legislation. I’m a skeptical journalist— what can I say?

As we all navigate this next phase I can’t stress enough how important it is to pay attention and stay safe, but also to stay skeptical too. Listen to your intuition, do your homework, and triple check your facts from legitimate sources that aren’t censored. It’s difficult to know what’s right and wrong now, especially as government parameters seem to change by the hour. One thing you can always control, though, is yourself.

I can’t seem to find a good set of best practices for managing a pandemic, so I thought I’d share a personal compass I’ve developed over the last two grueling months. I’m not accredited in any way to share this list as any more than a blog post, from a friend.

STAY SELF AWARE

The person who knows your health and exposure status best is you. Tune in.

STAY RESPECTFUL

It’s a dumpster fire out there, and everyone kindles it differently. It’s hard to predict how we’ll react to something so life-changing. Be easy on yourself and others during this time, and always.

STAY CLEAN

Do your part, and that goes far beyond Coronavirus. At RadCraft we often share desks in the office, and our simple rule is leave the desk space as clean or cleaner than you left it. What if we all took that approach to all of the spaces we inhabited?

STAY BUSY

Read. Write. Color. Paint. Run. Lift. Hike. Bird watch. Organize your closet. Take a Q-Tip to your floorboards. Make music. Make love. Make memories. Whatever it may be— stay busy with the activities that fuel your passions. I don’t want to look back on this time as lost time, and I know you don’t either.

STAY CALM

I’m finding that equally important as staying busy right now is giving myself time to relax and decompress. For me, that’s logging miles on trails with my cattle dog and showing up daily on my yoga mat. For you that might be blasting 90s hip hop when you’re stressed (well I guess I do that too), or talking to your plants (fine, you got me). Whatever it may be, your nervous system will appreciate you for it.

Let’s hope this “new normal” is still a long way out. And let’s take care of ourselves and each other while we figure this shit out together.

Hang in there, friends!

— Em Hutto, RadCraft Founder + CEO

RadCraft Opens Co-Op Membership Application Early; Offers Free Membership to Barley Crafters Impacted by Coronavirus

Photo by Emily Sierra

Coronavirus really turned our world upside down, and we’ve heard from so many of you that’s the case for you too. We’re here to help, and we can think of no stronger way to show that than to open our doors up to the craft barley community— for business, for support, and for our community across the globe.

Accordingly, we opened up the application period for our communications co-op a month early, we're waiving all annual fees for all breweries, distilleries, and maltsters who apply for the 2020-2021 co-op membership before May 1.

The RadCraft co-op membership is an annual program designed for craft barley crafters with in-house marketing or communications professionals. Membership includes media relations resources like press release publishing and media lists; design services professional photo and video assets; subscriptions to our annual catalogue, vendor directory, and Craft Marketing emails; free tickets & discount pricing to all of RadCraft’s educational offerings, including registration to the annual Craft Social Media workshop; and more. 

Apply for your RadCraft co-op at radcraftbeer.com/jointhecoop. All fees will be waived for applications submitted by Friday, May 1. Applications will be accepted until the end of June. 2020-2021 memberships run July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. 

Companies who apply after May 1 can use the promo code COVIDSUCKS for 25% off the cost of annual membership.

For more information about the RadCraft communications co-op, contact Emily Hutto at coop@radcraftbeer.com.

Craft Industry COVID-19 Update - April 14, 2020

Captured by The Brewtography Project at Odell Brewing’s RiNo location.

"Unity is strength. . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." —Mattie Stepanek

Another week under our belts of this pandemic and it seems like things have somewhat hovered around where they were the previous week, a refreshing lull after a rush of change. Dare we ask: Is the new normal?

While it does seem like things are slowing down a bit with regards to new developments and policy changes, it may leave us asking ourselves, “how long will this last?” — whether it’s pertaining to how long it’ll be until the next major change, how long we’ll have the shelter-in-place order, how long it’ll be till we can enjoy our craft barley beverages at our favorite brewery, distillery, etc. We’re in serious limbo.

Despite it all, our incredible community keeps collaborating to achieve strength through teamwork. Day after day, there’s pieces of news that bring light during these darker times. There’s just as much positive as there is negative to Coronavirus if you’re looking in the right places. Here are a few of them:

• Dustin Hall of The Brewtography Project is supporting the community through book donations. His generous efforts have raised $4,293 and counting for Colorado craft breweries!

• Four Saints Brewing Company continues to connect with their community in creative ways as they adjust to the new situation as the first and only brewery in Randolph County, North Carolina. Check out what they’re doing here!

• Root Shoot Malting is donating 16,000 pounds of corn to Colorado distilleries to make hand sanitizer to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The maltster has donated more than 6,000 pounds to-date for hand sanitizer efforts to Ballmer Peak Distillery, Big Fat Pastor Spirits, Conflagration Distilling, Denver Distillery, Golden Moon Distillery, Idlewild Spirits Distillery, Molly Brown Distillery, Rocker Spirits, and The Block Distilling Co., with more to come.

• Other Half Brewing out of New York launched a new campaign, All Together — similar to that of Sierra Nevada’s Resilience campaign. All Together is a worldwide collaboration created to raise awareness and funds for the craft industry. “#AllTogetherBeer invites any brewer, from any corner of the planet, to participate by providing the tools needed to make the beer at the lowest possible cost, including an open-source recipe, artwork, and name. In exchange, the collective asks that a portion of the proceeds go to supporting hospitality professionals in each brewery’s own community. The rest should be donated to keeping the brewery in business to weather this storm.” Read more on Brewbound.

• 33 craft maltsters responded to a recent survey conducted by the Craft Maltsters Guild (CMG) regarding the impact COVID-19 has had on their businesses. As expected, 88% of those responded said that they have already been impacted through reduced sales, however, only 9% of those surveyed made employee lay-offs. That equates to only 3 of the 33 that maltsters forced to make that difficult decision. Support maltsters during this time, and always, by purchasing beer made with local malt or who sport the Craft Malt Seal. Learn more on 5280 Magazine.

• The COVID pandemic has forced many business owners to think outside of the box as they’re adapting to the “new normal” we’re living in. Andy Jessen of Bonfire Brewing share this in a recent Forbes article:

  "It has also made us realize how little we were taking advantage of the opportunity to engage in a broader fashion with our diverse online customer base. With no options for communicating in-person, we've successfully created brand new channels of engagement that are proving successful. The crisis has also shown us the strength of our team and the support they garner in the community. Leaders are emerging.”

If you know of a community or nonprofit effort that supports hospitality businesses in need, we want to hear about it. Comment here, or email us so we can help get the word out.

We’d also love to continue sharing your stories and help you keep track of your evolving changes around COVID precautions. Please email your COVID statements to karen@radcraftbeer.com.

Stay safe and healthy out there!

—Karen Mills, RadCraft Content Editor

Craft Industry COVID-19 Update - April 7, 2020

Photo courtesy Drifter Brewing Co.

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” —Helen Keller

Over the last couple weeks, the craft barley community has gone through quite a rollercoaster ride, to say the least. Our community has taken it in stride, adapting as much as we can. That’s just a small reminder of the strength and resilience of craft brewers, distillers, and maltsters— and just how much we can accomplish together.

Breweries operating under new guidelines across the world continue to release new beers and innovate. Brewers guilds are working tirelessly to communicate daily changes. The social experience might be turned upside down, but beer lovers still have so much access to craft. We mentioned last week that we never realized how much we take our third spaces for granted; and that continues to ring true— on a global scale.

Our friends at Drifter Brewing Company in South Africa are having a helluva lot harder time than some of our partners in the United States. The entire country is under strict lockdown— no beer sales of any kind (or dog walking!). They shared their Captain's Log lockdown story with us here, a creative and comical way to keep the lights on in their part of the world.

We want to continue to share ways you can help, and there’s definitely still so much more to come…

• Service Industry Tips was set up to help the food and beverage professionals that are impacted by restaurant closures and the drastic decrease in workforce with the shift to take-out. During this time of social distancing, consider tipping a local service industry worker through Venmo or Cash App.

• Our friends at C-Star Provisions is donating all profits from the pre-sale of their newest flavor, Nashville Hot Jerky, sales to the staff who have been impacted by the shut downs.

• Good Word Brewing will continue operating their soup kitchen now that they’ve reopened, and will be donating any leftovers to Meals by Grace. They also encourage donating to The Giving Kitchen, an organization that aids restaurant workers when they are in need.

If you know of a community or nonprofit effort that supports hospitality businesses in need, we want to hear about it. Comment here, or email us so we can help get the word out.

Stay safe, stay positive, stay resilient – taking things one day at a time.

—The RadCraft Team

Craft Industry COVID-19 Update - March 31, 2020

Photo by The Brewtography Project

"Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work." —Warren Bennis

The craft barley community is taking one for the team. In the United States, many of these businesses have been deemed essential by most government authorities— which means that many of the agriculture and service industry professionals in our community are out on the front lines.

(That’s not the case for every country, and we’ll get into that with some of our friends across the globe next week.)

We never realized how much we take our third spaces for granted.

We trust these establishments with our family gatherings, our first dates, our last dates, our meeting agendas, coveted catch-ups between friends, and so much more. COVID-19 gave us a harsh wake up call that it’s about time we show the service industry it can trust us back.

Let’s keep the lights on for craft. Let’s do so safely, with positivity and resilience. Here are a few ways you can help, with much more to come…

• Restauranteur Connection rounded up more than 20 relief programs for restaurants and their employees in this helpful article.

•  IGC Hospitality launched a program to ensure that out-of-work hospitality workers don’t go hungry. Family Meal will provide FREE meals to anyone in the industry. 

• Our dear friends at The Brewtography Project will give you a FREE BOOK if you send them your receipt for $50 or more at your local craft brewery. Learn more about their generosity here.

If you know of a community or nonprofit effort that supports hospitality businesses in need, we want to hear about it. Comment here, or email us so we can help get the word out.

Hang in there, everyone. One day at a time.

— The RadCraft team

Craft Industry COVID-19 Update - March 24, 2020

Photo at Root Shoot Malting by The Brewtography Project

“You aren't alive if you aren't in need.”  — Henry Cloud

Wise words above by leadership expert and psychologist— a combination of skill sets I certainly need in my life right now, and I can’t imagine I’m alone in that statement. Sudden, widespread Instagram reinforcement that we’re all in this together couldn’t be more true right now, trite as it may already be.

The craft barley community has long been known for camaraderie, and the Coronavirus can’t touch that.

#COVIDcanttouchdis, amiright?!

In effort to bring y’all together from afar, provide critical resources, and to help remind ourselves why we do this every damn day, we’re working on a Coronavirus relief hub for the craft community. It’s a scramble that’s changing by the hour, but here’s what we’ll promise you today:

• A page on our COVID-19 newsfeed if you’re a brewery, distillery, or maltster — to keep track of your evolving changes in response to virus precautions. Eventually these individual company pages will be organized by state and other categories so they are more accessible. For now, each small business that sends us this information will get a custom link for easy sharing. Submit yours to karen@radcraftbeer.com.

• Regular updates on our newsfeed.. If you have a question or a tip for a news share please email karen@radcraftbeer.com.

• Weekly updates on this Craft Industry COVID-19 report that we’ll publish every Tuesday for the foreseeable future.

• Resources, tools, and opportunities for supporting the wellness and stability of your staff and your business. Sign up for our email newsletter, Craft Marketing, to get these resources delivered to your inbox.

Thank you for reading. Stay resilient, friends!

— Emily Hutto, RadCraft Founder & CEO

Craft Industry COVID-19 Update - March 17, 2020

Photo at Root Shoot Malting by The Brewtography Project

After multiple states announced yesterday mandated COVID-19 prevention closures affecting all of our partners and colleagues, we’ve intensely deliberated on what the hell we can do to help. We live by the words Rise to the occasion, and do so with your skillset. Hardly the St. Patrick’s Day we had imaged, but here we are.

Craft breweries and distilleries have jumped into action adjusting their tasting room hours and sales strategies. There’s a lot we can still do, even from our homes, to ensure the longevity of these businesses.

RadCraft is committed to keeping our community in the know as COVID-19 develops. Today we started a craft and service industry specific newsfeed covering all things COVID-19. Our mission is to support breweries, distilleries, maltsters, and service professionals in the wake of a pandemic, and keep you posted on how you can help. Stay informed at radcraftbeer.com/covid19.

We are actively seeking volunteer contributors for this newsfeed. Please email coop@radcraftbeer.com with inquiries about how to share your content or keep this feed flowing.

Thank you for your support of the craft community during this unprecedented dumpster fire.

-Emily Hutto, RadCraft Founder & CEO