Birthdays. It’s the one day of the year where waiting for what you want is no big deal. In fact, it’s kind of cherished; the anticipation of what’s to come and it being a surprise is rather exciting.
But the rest of the year? Having to wait when you’re counting on something’s arrival? Something you need to get work done? Like making that classic Pisco Sour that’s been one of the top three biggest sellers on your menu since you opened your restaurant doors fifteen years ago? No way can you stand the wait. Yet currently, thanks to this global pandemic, the beverage industry is finding it has to.
From product getting stuck in foreign ports, to backed up on ships waiting their turn through the Suez Canal, to not having enough glass bottles available to hold the product, a shortage of wood for pallets, skeleton crews at production facilities, or enough truckers to deliver product to the distributor warehouse, all sorts of unexpected roadblocks are hitting the alcoholic beverage industry in the face.
Did we ever put two and two together before now? Surely there’s lots of attention paid to the annual harvest of grapes and shortages that may occur from mother nature making a particular vintage available in limited quantity; but to not get it at all because despite the fact that the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) represents people working in jobs that is the most dominant job in 29 states, this country is short about 60,000 drivers right now? Who else is going to get our wine and liquor from point “a” to point “b” if they’re not available to do it? And pre-pandemic, would this issue have even occurred to you it would raise its head as a problem complicating sales at the restaurant level?
Frederic Yarm, a brand Ambassador for Angel’s Envy and who also bartends at Smoke Shop BBQ in Somerville, MA saw the impact, and pain points, immediately. At Smoke Shop, where they have the largest American whiskey collection in the Northeast, being out of a bottle or two of whiskey is only a minor complication when there are at least 200 other selections to choose from. But when the well tequila is no longer available, that’s a problem!
At the restaurant level, swapping out one tequila that is available for the one that you usually order but currently can’t doesn’t seem like a big deal. Sure, you may have to change the menu to reflect the new brand, and reprogram your POS, but it’s simple to do. Where shortages like the ones we are seeing really hurt the most is on the sales side as Yarm points out. The impact here can resonate for months. Yarm explains, “There are reps out there who have a portfolio of brands they represent so they’re in better shape than that one who just reps Bombay Sapphire and is faced with a blue glass shortage. There’s nothing he can do but wait.”
Yarm continues, “Since you can’t have a menu item featuring tequila without your well tequila you bring in another one for the same price. Well, someone worked really hard for that placement. It’s hard to get it on. And once you get it on and did all the leg work it’s lost if it gets replaced with another brand because when someone has a problem ordering a product for their bar, they’ll just give up. Then the salesperson has to come in again and it’s not just a month to get back in the well, it’s three months or eight months of fighting for your square footage on the drink menu. It’s like dating, nobody is going to wait for you. Maybe the bar says you can wait for months, and we’ll bring you back on our winter menu.” That’s great…if it happens.
It doesn’t always. But one chance of making it possible to get back in swiftly and back in that well or on that menu is to build strong relationships and offer value. Pallets and glass can be in high demand, but nothing beats great customer relations to keep business flowing.
Early on in the pandemic Lauren Myerscough, a co-founder of Cocktail and Sons, wisely marshalled her resources, using that opportunity to reset and stockpile items they new they would need when restaurants and bars opened up again. She shares, “Our suppliers weren’t doing much business then, so they were thankful for the income. And now they’re returning the favor when we ask for something.” As Myerscough’s company relies on shipping bottles and vats of cocktail syrups around the country the pre-emptive and collaborative effort can’t be overemphasized. It’s exactly why that while some pallets are taking their sweet time to arrive at their destination Myerscough feels securely on top of her inventory and sleeps easy at night.
Michele Lex, Co-President and CMO of The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley knows there are shortages all around and she’s not different from any other manufacturer. She shares what many are facing, “The freight shortage has been horrible. For example, I have raw materials coming in on a container ship, there’s not enough labor at the port to move the container ships through.”
She continues, echoing what the TCA knows, “Freight is the biggest component that everyone is dealing with in terms of shortages in drivers. It’s not going to get any better. It’s not sexy to be a driver. These are the times when the industry says how are we going to grow when we don’t have drivers to go?”
And that’s not all. A lot of companies either went belly up or consolidated during the pandemic. Many of them suppliers for Perfect Puree and Lex notes, “There’s really a whole lot of complications on many levels, and you have to pull back the onion. A lot of companies that failed or were bought up that were suppliers to us – like our label supplier; when that happens the rhythm breaks.”
Her solution to the problem informs an approach that may be the thing that sets her apart. Lex sees the behind the scenes delays as an opportunity to continue her company policy of transparency and support her partners as she has since joining the company over a decade ago. Throughout the height of the pandemic, and now, Lex and her team managed customer communications more than ever, taking it to a whole new level. She notes, “We were being open and transparent about hiccups and just checking in, even when there was no sale.”
Now that bars and restaurants have reopened demand is high. With a labor shortage rampant throughout the hospitality industry a quality product that saves times and boosts profits like Lex’s purees do is a godsend. And an opportunity to embrace change and creativity. Along with shortages created by manmade problems, Mother Nature offers up only so much yield. That’s why products like the new limited edition Mango Passionfruit flavor is exciting to customers. You do what you can when you have it.
As Lex points out, the bars were all really creative throughout the pandemic using what they had. And distributors were excited to offer something new. In some ways, maybe taking a step back from our “need it now” culture is a good thing. Lex concludes, “It’s like Christmas or Hanukkah five times a week when something is available.”
SIPS TO SAVOR:
Fall 2021 Edition of Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond
While we would never advocate a regular morning belt of this whiskey before work, we couldn’t help but consider how good it would be in pancake syrup when we tried the fall 2021 release of Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. From barrels produced in spring of 2010 this 100 proof bourbon meets the criteria of a bottled-in-bond spirit; it’s the product of a single distillery from a single distilling season, has been aged a minimum of four years, and bottled at 100% proof.
The fall 2021 edition comes to us from rickhouse EE, one of the 63 aging warehouses Heaven Hill has dotting Nelson and Jefferson Kentucky counties, and offers up subtle vanilla notes, a pleasing weighty mouth feel, and lingering aromatics that make you appreciate this finely crafted bourbon well after your last swallow. It begs to be within arm’s reach for convivial evenings at the bar or at home.
