Fredericton’s DrinkNB Brings Craft Ciders And Beer To Your Door
FREDERICTON – Staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic no longer means missing out on enjoying your favourite craft brews.
DrinkNB, a new online order and delivery service, is now bringing a selection of local beer and cider right to front doors in the greater Fredericton area.
Adam Clawson, the co-founder of Red Rover Craft Cider, has been working around the clock since Saturday to launch the platform as a way to support the industry as it faces growing financial pressure from declining sales.
“Right now all of our members are falling on hard times,” he said. “So it’s normally in the darkest hour that you really want to step up and do something different, and this is our way of trying to help all of our fellow craft alcohol producers.”
The service provides a streamlined option to order from multiple producers in the same package under one fee. DrinkNB currently delivers within two zones around greater Fredericton, extending as far as Oromocto and to rural areas near the city like Keswick Ridge.
“Once it was quite obvious that the bars were going to be closing and other locations were going to be closing permanently, we really wanted to try and pivot and bring the product to the customer instead of the customer coming to us,” Clawson said.
Craft breweries across the province are laying off staff and finding ways to adapt to a huge drop in sales during the outbreak of COVID-19. Some remain open for contactless sales of bottled and canned products, as they are considered NB Liquor agency stores.
Taprooms have been forced to close, taking away a major revenue source for many craft alcohol producers.
Graystone Brewing owner Wes Ward said he’s had to lay off about 33 people and reduce staff to only a few full-time employees.
“The taphouse, that’s basically 55 percent of our sales gone and then all the bars and restaurants, that’s another 30 percent gone,” Ward said. “But we’re lucky that we’re in the grocery store and NB Liquor is still open.”
The company has been operating a zero-contact curbside pickup service and will begin offering delivery as a partner with DrinkNB.
“When things like this happen you have to be creative, and be able to do whatever you have to, to be able to open up when things hopefully get back to normal,” said Ward.
Clawson said the impact of the pandemic and state of emergency has been “catastrophic” in cutting off revenue for producers, who have in most cases laid off anywhere from 70 percent to all of their employees.
“It’s very unique for each producer,” he said. “Some producers run up 70% through the liquor stores, some producers run-up like zero percent through the liquor stores and they just exist on bars and taproom sales.”
DrinkNB gives customers the ability to easily create a custom selection of products from different producers – similar to putting together a mix pack at the liquor store – right from home.
“Most people who drink craft products are brand curious – they’re not brand loyal,” Clawson said. “And that’s the beauty of the people who enjoy craft products is that they don’t like just one company. They always want to explore.”
Producers available on DrinkNB currently include Maybee, Grimross, Flying Boats, Long Bay, Graystone, Trailway, Coastliner Craft Cider, 3Flip and Red Rover Craft Cider.
Orders placed at drinknb.ca are delivered in one to three business days either on Tuesdays or Fridays through a no-contact process. The driver will phone the customer at home to confirm they are present, verify identification through a window to maintain social distancing and then leave the order outside.
Clawson told Huddle he hopes DrinkNB will continue to grow by including more producers and potentially expanding to Saint John and Moncton.
“New Brunswickers are a tough people,” he said. “And when we’re hit with a challenge, we make solutions for that.”