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Food service businesses are exploring new revenue streams that may have been an afterthought before the current pandemic.

published on April 23, 2020 - 12:54 PM
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Food service businesses are exploring new revenue streams that may have been an afterthought before the current pandemic.

Those efforts may continue to pay off well after the threat of coronavirus has subsided.

For a number of years, California had allowed direct-to-consumer alcohol sales to people within the state. But the focus on events and making their beer garden the driving force had been the priority for Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co. in Fresno, said Michael Cruz, president of Tioga Sequoia Brewing Co.

But the 60% decrease in gross sales following closures of bars and breweries prompted Cruz to consider outside markets to supplement lost income. Tioga had also lost commercial accounts. Sales to Yosemite National Park make up 5% of their revenue. Even the considerable uptick at grocery stores didn’t make up for losses elsewhere.

“We had to look for new avenues to maintain a steady stream of revenue,” Cruz said.

On April 5, the brewery made available its beer to the entire state of California.

Cases of their ales, lagers and porters can be sent across the state for $20, though it may cost a little more in some places, said Cruz.

What they found out was how easy it was to ship. Employees wrap up beer the night before and send it off, usually arriving to its destination the next day. The beer is never out of a cooler longer than 24 hours, Cruz said.

In the first three days, they made 53 shipments — equaling nearly a pallet of beer.

“To be able to maintain that once a week is pretty significant for us,” Cruz said. “ It’s something we definitely want to keep as an option for our consumers ever after things calm down.”

But with more than a thousand breweries throughout the state, according to the California Craft Brewers Association in 2019, making your name stand out in the crowd can be an uphill battle.

Of their 30,000 followers on both Facebook and Instagram, about 80% are local. The other 20% were people traveling through to places like Yosemite or Grizzly Fest. They used targeted ads on Facebook to reach customers in other parts of the state. They also used the Square App to find people who had purchased beer before to tell them they could now get brews such as Half Dome or General Sherman delivered to their door. While Cruz plans to keep shipping throughout the state, he also wants to keep the same in-house appeal.

“On-site consumption will always be the main focus of Tioga-Sequoia, but now we can offer them to get a taste of what they had or what they experienced at home, no matter where in California,” he said.


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