BENTONVILLE -- After more than a year preparing, Bentonville Brewing Co. opened its doors at its swanky new location, smack-dab in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic.
The brewing company started serving customers in early April via curbside pickup and sold its bottled brew to restaurants where once it sold whole kegs of suds.
Then, when allowed, taproom sales kicked in, something that wasn't a big part of their operation at its old location in nearby Rogers. Distribution business continued to chug along, with sales to retailers and liquor stores helping to make up some for the loss in restaurant keg sales that had all but dried up.
"Our community came out and saved us," said Katie Boykin, managing partner and chief executive officer of the brewery.
It was a challenge operating in the new business environment, Bentonville Brewing's owners say, but doing their best to make things work -- despite the curve balls the pandemic brought with it -- was their only real option. Boykin said a Paycheck Protection Program loan through their regular banker helped keep workers working and Arkansas Economic Development funds were used to buy masks and gloves and to help pay for a touch-free payment system.
Now days patrons must wear a mask until their orders are brought to their tables and groups of more than 10 are restricted. The brewery is seeing solid traffic at its outdoor beirgarten, Boykin said, adding they never anticipated table service being a factor at the new location, but it's required now and seems to be working well.
"The huge outdoor space gives us an edge," she said.
Sylvia Blain, Arkansas Brewers Guild said in an email exchange that most of the state's breweries are relying heavily on curbside to go and some smaller markets are offering delivery. She said Arkansas breweries are using the same methods to deal with the pandemic, some with greater effect than others.
"I am in awe of how quickly and adeptly Arkansas breweries have pivoted during this pandemic. Each brewery has a different set of business needs and a unique business model and each of them have risen to the occasion with the same dedication to their clientele as I have come to expect from them in the best of times," Blain said.
On Thursday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said new cases of covid-19 jumped by 878, the largest daily increase so far, to a total of 22,075 for the state.
Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association, a trade group supporting craft breweries nationwide, said in an email that in general sales have declined since the covid-19 outbreak. He said while breweries have opened new sales channels that may have helped, for most brewers they haven't been nearly enough to offset the loss of their sales to bars and restaurants, and in most cases, they haven't been able to fully replace at-the-brewery sales.
"Many breweries are doing this as a stopgap, and are eager to get back to the ways they sold beer before," he said of the new sales channels. "Others have found incremental untapped demand and will likely continue. For many, the final costs and profit margins matter. Just because you can sell beer in a new way doesn't mean you are making much money doing so."
In late May, Watson when writing about the association's third impact survey on its members, said breweries have pivoted their business models in the face of the covid-19 pandemic and reopened in line with local and state guidance, while trying new ways to keep in business. He noted while the industry had seen some closures a vast majority have managed to stay open.
According to the survey of the association's 850 members, many have begun to offer delivery options; 80% have received a Paycheck Protection Plan loan; and while a majority of breweries are confident their business will survive 2020, 15% to 20% are unsure or pessimistic. The median brewery respondents reported sales down 50%.
In 2019, Arkansas ranked 40th in the nation for number of breweries with 42, according to the association. In 2018, the state's breweries were responsible for $838 million in economic impact, ranking 26th nationally.
Watson said it remains to be seen if the nation's breweries will stick with any of the new sales channels they've relied on during the pandemic and that will vary based on location.
Quentin Willard, one of the founders of Fort Smith Brewing Co. said online ordering, curbside pickup and delivery have been vital during the pandemic. The brewery runs a taproom at 115th N. 10th St. and at 7500 Chaffee Blvd.
He said when they weren't allowed to serve customers inside, delivery allowed the brewery to keep workers employed.
Willard said they had to order additional growlers for delivery three times since the pandemic started, adding while it doesn't make up for the loss of taproom revenue, everything helps.
He said the brewery might continue the delivery service when things get more back to normal if the state allows it. He said the brewery plans to shift more of its focus to outside seating and activities, something he'd not considered as important prior to the outbreak.
"It's a lot safer to be interacting outside," he said. "We are the Natural State after all."
Gotahold Brewing at 409 W. Van Buren in Eureka Springs opened its doors for the first time last week.
Co-owners Wendy Reese Hartmann, who also does the brewery's marketing and Dave Hartmann, an award-winning brewmaster with nearly 30 years of experience, had been planning for the new business for quite some time and signing the construction their new building long before covid-19 was a familiar term to most Americans.
In response to emailed questions, Wendy Reese Hartman said they had planned on opening in May but they had to push the date back because of pandemic disruptions.
Those included holding off on any major purchases except for construction and brewing equipment until they had more information about the pandemic. She said the company used that extra time to stay informed, develop an employee handbook and establish standard operating procedures to deal with the new covid-19 working environment.
She said they were fortunate to have land, which allowed them to expand their outside seating to about 100 patrons even with social-distancing requirements and they decided to use an online reservation system. The owners opted for safety sake to keep occupancy at 33% inside and also they hired a host to manage the reservations and to do temperature checks at the door, something they would never have anticipated needed prior to the viral outbreak in the U.S.
Plans for a big bash to open the place complete with live entertainment had to be sidelined but to thank supporters they held an invitation-only soft opening, complete with temperature checks and masks, and reservations required.
"We are honored that we had some in attendance who had not been out socially since the shutdown started in mid-March, Reese Hartman said. "They also stayed longer than expected because they felt safe. It was great to see people safely socialize and have a good time."
Bentonville Brewing Co. started out in 2015 but soon ran out of space and moved its operation to nearby Rogers in 2017.
In mid-December of 2018 Bentonville Brewing broke ground on its new location at 901 S.W. 14th St. Its new home, which the company leases but was built-to-suit, includes a taproom, beirgarten, dog park, playground, a space for food trucks and greatly enhanced production capacity.
Head brewer Beau Boykin said the brewery is producing about 4,500 barrels a year but the new location gives the brewery an annual capacity of 8,000 to 10,000 barrels. A barrel of beer equals 31 gallons.
"That's as large as we'd ever want to be,' Beau Boykin said.
Katie Boykin said it's always been the brewery's goal to be hyper-local and Northwest Arkansas focused. She said to that end they've also been selling a lot of branded merchandise, including a bike jersey to appeal to Bentonville's outdoor crowd and that in the early days of the pandemic the brewery was heavily supported by purchases of gift cards.
"We're happy to be back in Bentonville," she said.
