Latest news with #PortCityBrewing
Fox News
30-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Craft brewers navigate rising costs without passing hefty price hikes to customers
America's craft brewers may be facing the sobering reality of inflation and looming tariffs, but a number of them are using creative problem-solving to navigate tight economic times. Many of these artisans — traditionally known for their boldness and innovation — are finding ways to maintain quality and brand integrity without asking loyal customers to choke on the price. "Pretty much everything that goes into making beer got more expensive over the past five years," Bart Watson, president and CEO of the Colorado-based Brewers Association, told Fox News Digital. "In this competitive environment, it's hard for brewers to pass all that on to the customer because they risk losing sales. So brewers are faced with this dual challenge." Beer makers have seen a sharp increase in costs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. "That's when the supply chain really shifted," David Stoneking, owner of Brotherwell Brewing in Waco, Texas, best known for its Belgian-style triple called Act of Faith, told Fox News Digital. "The tariffs and other related things are still an unknown. Everyone is aware of them, everyone is worried about them, but nobody has actually paid an additional price quite yet." Bill Butcher, owner of Port City Brewing Co. in Alexandria, Virginia, said he feels that, too. "We have rising input costs for our ingredients, rising labor costs for our team and rents are going up. Everything is getting more expensive," Butcher told Fox News Digital. "At the same time, people are being more careful with their money with all the uncertainty in the economy right now." Creative problem-solving helps craft breweries maintain price points without compromising the quality and variety their customers have come to expect. One way brewers are mitigating their costs is by sourcing local ingredients. "Our bestselling beer, Optimal Wit, is brewed with 100% Virginia-grown wheat," Butcher said. "We are happy to support our local Virginia agriculture. And as we've grown, we've become the largest purchaser of food-grade, Virginia-grown wheat in the state." In addition to supporting local farmers, Butcher said it reduces transportation costs and also allows the company to monitor inventory and not over-order ingredients that might go unused. Breweries in the same areas are also consolidating their orders for ingredients, Butcher said, as well as working together to ship their beer out to market when they have shared distributors. "We try to collaborate with our local allies in the market and work together in ways that make sense for everybody," Butcher said. Some brewers are expanding into other markets, such as kombucha, seltzers and non-alcoholic options, in order to bolster sales. "We make a non-alcoholic hoppy seltzer that we developed a couple of years ago as we saw the trend of 'Dry January' growing," Butcher said. "We wanted to offer something to people if they wanted to come to the brewery but not necessarily drink beer." Brotherwell Brewing also has some non-alcoholic offerings and Stoneking said he's always keeping an eye open for new options there, including food. "We don't have the resources right now to build out a kitchen," Stoneking said. "But we do partner with local food trucks as often as we're able." Beer and communities have always been intertwined, Stoneking said. For more Lifestyle articles, visit "Breweries and community beer gardens have developed as a space that was, throughout history, the place for people to gather," Stoneking said. "There's a little bit of shade and a little bit of beer — OK, let's hang out here as family or friends or community members. That has survived relatively unchanged for thousands of years." Compared with wine and spirits, even craft beer is on the low end of affordability. "With beer, we can stay kind of accessible," Stoneking said. "Whether you're paying $4 for a Bud Light or $6 for a craft beer, that $2 difference isn't huge. That means we get to cast a wider net," he said. "People specifically choose craft beer at that $2 up-charge over major domestics precisely for the quality of it and for the exploration of it. They find value in it."
Global News
24-04-2025
- Business
- Global News
Chaos and uncertainty: America's small businesses reel from Trump's tariffs
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – U.S. retailers are feeling the blunt impacts of President Donald Trump's tariffs on imports. Virginia toy store owner Amy Rutherford says 80 per cent of toys are made in China. 'Even if we're buying it from a French company, it's made in China,' she said. Rutherford warns that Trump's 145 per cent tariff on Chinese imports will soon price her merchandise out of reach for most consumers. She used a stuffed animal as an example: It normally retails for US$28, but tariffs will raise the price to nearly $75. 'I wouldn't pay $75 for it,' she said. It's the same story down the street at Rutherford's other business: a stationery store, where greeting cards and paper products from Canada feature prominently. Story continues below advertisement Those products are temporarily exempt from Trump's threatened 25 per cent tariff on Canada, but the risk of duties returning is taking a toll. 'Certainty is not a thing we're relying on right now,' she said. 2:17 Canadian cross-border business hopeful amid tariff troubles Time is running out to find clarity. The summer is critical for small retailers, because it's when they plan and order for the busy winter holidays – their make-or-break months. Not knowing if tariffs will return, or what imports will cost, makes it nearly impossible to plan or purchase. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy What's worse, Rutherford says her suppliers in China have warned they may not ship anything to the U.S. unless the tariffs are dropped. 'It's unaffordable for them and for us,' she said. Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen Beer Bottles are ready for filling at Port City Brewing in Alexandria, Va. Brett Carlson / Global News Brewery owner Bill Butcher says the tariffs have become an unwelcome ingredient in his beer. Port City Brewing in Alexandria, Va., relies on grains from Canada and Europe, aluminum cans from Canada, bottle caps from Mexico and kegs from Germany. 'The whole supply chain is just so intertwined internationally,' Butcher says, 'you can't really say I'm only going to buy American ingredients to brew great-quality beer.' The Canadian barley malt he uses thrives in the cold, but tariffs have put a chill on imports. Butcher says his suppliers have warned him that the temporary pause on Canadian tariffs has not brought any certainty. 'They sent us a letter saying 'changes are coming.'' Story continues below advertisement 1:48 How steel and aluminum tariffs drive beer-flation The impacts have rippled through breweries across the U.S. Aluminum tariffs have increased the price of cans, and Butcher says the big multi-national breweries switched to glass bottles to avoid price increases. With only a handful of bottle producers in the U.S., his small operation has been squeezed out. 'We were informed by our bottle supplier about three weeks ago that they're cutting us off,' he said. Butcher said consumers will ultimately pay the price for the tariffs and the ensuing uncertainty. He pointed to the price of a six-pack of his beer, currently $12.99. 'That could go as high as $17 or $18,' he said, as wholesalers mark up their costs. 2:01 Dartmouth brewery joins national campaign promoting Canadian-made beer On social media, the president called businessmen who criticize his tariffs 'bad at business' and claimed, 'I am the greatest friend that American capitalism has ever had!' Story continues below advertisement The president has argued that any pain will be temporary and has claimed the U.S. is making 'billions per day' from the tariffs. That's not the reality small business owners see as they look through their ledgers. Trump has imposed, paused and retracted tariffs in surprise announcements and unexpected social media posts. Business owners blamed those on-again, off-again duties for creating a damaging climate, making it impossible to plan. 'We just don't know day to day what we can absorb and what we can't,' Rutherford said. Butcher said it felt as though the White House had not put much thought into the impacts tariffs would have on small businesses. 'There are ways to achieve your trade goals without punishing American small businesses, and without punishing American consumers,' he said.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Trump's trade wars are threatening already vulnerable brewers
America's craft brewers already have enough problems. Hard seltzers and cocktails are muscling into beer sales. Millennials and Gen Z don't drink as much as their elders. Brewpubs still haven't fully recovered from the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago. Now there's a new threat: President Donald Trump's tariffs, including levies of 25% on imported steel and aluminium and on goods from Canada and Mexico. 'It's going to cost the industry a substantial amount of money,' said Matt Cole, brewmaster at Ohio-based Fat Head's Brewery. Trump' trade war 'will be crippling for our industry if this carries out into months and years'. The tariffs, some of which have been suspended until 2 April, could impact brewers in ways big and small, Bart Watson said. Watson is the president and CEO of the Brewers Association, the trade group for craft beer. Aluminium cans are in Trump's crosshairs. And nearly all the steel kegs used by US brewers are made in Germany, so a tariff on finished steel products raises the cost of kegs. Tariffs on Canadian products like barley and malt would also increase costs. And some brewers depend on raspberries and other fruit from Mexico, Watson said. At Port City Brewing in Alexandria, Virginia, founder Bill Butcher worries that he'll have to raise the price of a six-pack of his best-selling Optimal Wit and other brews to $18.99 (€17.55) from around $12.99 (€12.01), and to charge more for a pint at his tasting room. 'Are people still going to come here and pay $12 a pint instead of $8?'' he said. 'Our business will slow down.'' For Port City, the biggest threat comes from the looming tariff on Canadian imports. Every three weeks, the brewery receives a 40,000-pound truckload of pilsner malt from Canada, which goes into a 55,000-pound silo on the brewery's grounds. Butcher said he can't find malt of comparable quality anywhere else. Trump's tariffs also hit Port City in a round-about way. The levy on aluminium, which went into effect on 12 March, is causing big brewers to switch from aluminium cans to bottles. Port City, which bottles 70% of its beer, found itself unable to get bottles. 'Our bottle supplier is cutting us off at the end of the month,'' Butcher said. 'That caught us by surprise.'' Fat Head's Brewery gets its barley from Canada. Cole said it could shift to sources in Idaho and Montana, but the shipping logistics are more complicated. And Trump's tariffs, by putting Canadian barley at a competitive disadvantage, would allow US producers to raise domestic prices. Related Beer prices across Europe: How much will fans pay during the 2024 Euros? Heineken shares climb as brewer announces strong profits and buyback Fat Head's is trying to mitigate the impact of the tariffs. Anticipating higher aluminium prices, for instance, the brewery stockpiled beer cans — which it gets from a US supplier — and now has 3 million cans in its warehouse, 30% of what it needs annually. It has also shifted production to painted cans, which are cheaper than those with shrink-wrapped film sleeves. In Arizona, some brewers are already eliminating or reducing the beers they offer in aluminium cans to cut costs, said Cale Aylsworth, the director of sales and relations at O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery and president of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild. 'This is a blow to Arizona craft. I hate to see less local options on the shelf,' Aylsworth said. Some brewers have also lost access to store shelves from one big customer: Canada, which is the top foreign market for US craft beer, accounting for almost 38% of exports. But Canadians are furious that Trump targeted their products, and Canadian importers have been cancelling orders and pulling US beer off store shelves. The tariffs come at an already difficult time for brewers. After years of steady growth — the number of US breweries more than doubled to 9,736 between 2014 and 2024 — the industry is struggling to compete with seltzers and other beverages and to win over younger customers. In 2024, brewery closings outnumbered openings for the first time since the mid-2000s, Watson of the Brewers Association said. He estimates that US craft beer production dipped 2% to 3% last year. 'Craft brewing had a period of phenomenal growth, but we are not in that era anymore,' he said. 'We're in a more mature market.' Port City's production peaked in 2019 at 16,000 barrels of beer — equivalent to 220,000 cases. Then the pandemic hit and hammered the company's draft beer business in bars and restaurants. The comeback has been slow. Butcher expects Port City to produce 13,000 barrels this year. The brewery seeks to set itself apart by emphasising its award-winning brews. In 2015, Port City was named small brewery of the year at the Great American Beer Festival. But it isn't easy with import taxes threatening to raise the cost of ingredients and packaging. 'It's hard enough to run a small business when your supply chain is in intact,'' he said. And the erratic way that Trump has rolled out the taxes — announcing them, then suspending them, then threatening new ones — has made it even more difficult to plan. 'The unpredictability just injects an element of chaos,'' Butcher said. Aylsworth, in Arizona, said big brewers have whole teams of people to calculate the impact of tariffs, but smaller brewers must stretch their resources to navigate them. That's on top of the other complexities of running a brewery, from zoning laws to licensing permits to labor shortages. But for many brewers, the heaviest burden right now is lower sales as customers cut back on beer, Aylsworth said. That's why many brewers are trying hard not to raise prices. 'In today's world, with the economy and the high level of uncertainty, people are spending less,' Cole said. 'Beer is an affordable luxury, and we want to make sure we don't lose that.'' Sign in to access your portfolio
Euronews
31-03-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Why Trump's trade wars are threatening already vulnerable brewers
ADVERTISEMENT America's craft brewers already have enough problems. Hard seltzers and cocktails are muscling into beer sales. Millennials and Gen Z don't drink as much as their elders. Brewpubs still haven't fully recovered from the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago. Now there's a new threat: President Donald Trump's tariffs, including levies of 25% on imported steel and aluminium and on goods from Canada and Mexico. 'It's going to cost the industry a substantial amount of money,' said Matt Cole, brewmaster at Ohio-based Fat Head's Brewery. Trump' trade war 'will be crippling for our industry if this carries out into months and years'. The tariffs, some of which have been suspended until 2 April, could impact brewers in ways big and small, Bart Watson said. Watson is the president and CEO of the Brewers Association, the trade group for craft beer. Aluminium cans are in Trump's crosshairs. And nearly all the steel kegs used by US brewers are made in Germany, so a tariff on finished steel products raises the cost of kegs. Tariffs on Canadian products like barley and malt would also increase costs. And some brewers depend on raspberries and other fruit from Mexico, Watson said. At Port City Brewing in Alexandria, Virginia, founder Bill Butcher worries that he'll have to raise the price of a six-pack of his best-selling Optimal Wit and other brews to $18.99 (€17.55) from around $12.99 (€12.01), and to charge more for a pint at his tasting room. 'Are people still going to come here and pay $12 a pint instead of $8?'' he said. 'Our business will slow down.'' For Port City, the biggest threat comes from the looming tariff on Canadian imports. Every three weeks, the brewery receives a 40,000-pound truckload of pilsner malt from Canada, which goes into a 55,000-pound silo on the brewery's grounds. Butcher said he can't find malt of comparable quality anywhere else. Trump's tariffs also hit Port City in a round-about way. The levy on aluminium, which went into effect on 12 March, is causing big brewers to switch from aluminium cans to bottles. Port City, which bottles 70% of its beer, found itself unable to get bottles. 'Our bottle supplier is cutting us off at the end of the month,'' Butcher said. 'That caught us by surprise.'' Fat Head's Brewery gets its barley from Canada. Cole said it could shift to sources in Idaho and Montana, but the shipping logistics are more complicated. And Trump's tariffs, by putting Canadian barley at a competitive disadvantage, would allow US producers to raise domestic prices. Related Beer prices across Europe: How much will fans pay during the 2024 Euros? Heineken shares climb as brewer announces strong profits and buyback Fat Head's is trying to mitigate the impact of the tariffs. Anticipating higher aluminium prices, for instance, the brewery stockpiled beer cans — which it gets from a US supplier — and now has 3 million cans in its warehouse, 30% of what it needs annually. It has also shifted production to painted cans, which are cheaper than those with shrink-wrapped film sleeves. In Arizona, some brewers are already eliminating or reducing the beers they offer in aluminium cans to cut costs, said Cale Aylsworth, the director of sales and relations at O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery and president of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild. 'This is a blow to Arizona craft. I hate to see less local options on the shelf,' Aylsworth said. ADVERTISEMENT Some brewers have also lost access to store shelves from one big customer: Canada, which is the top foreign market for US craft beer, accounting for almost 38% of exports. But Canadians are furious that Trump targeted their products, and Canadian importers have been cancelling orders and pulling US beer off store shelves. Changing consumer tastes The tariffs come at an already difficult time for brewers. After years of steady growth — the number of US breweries more than doubled to 9,736 between 2014 and 2024 — the industry is struggling to compete with seltzers and other beverages and to win over younger customers. In 2024, brewery closings outnumbered openings for the first time since the mid-2000s, Watson of the Brewers Association said. He estimates that US craft beer production dipped 2% to 3% last year. ADVERTISEMENT 'Craft brewing had a period of phenomenal growth, but we are not in that era anymore,' he said. 'We're in a more mature market.' Port City's production peaked in 2019 at 16,000 barrels of beer — equivalent to 220,000 cases. Then the pandemic hit and hammered the company's draft beer business in bars and restaurants. The comeback has been slow. Butcher expects Port City to produce 13,000 barrels this year. The brewery seeks to set itself apart by emphasising its award-winning brews. In 2015, Port City was named small brewery of the year at the Great American Beer Festival. But it isn't easy with import taxes threatening to raise the cost of ingredients and packaging. 'It's hard enough to run a small business when your supply chain is in intact,'' he said. And the erratic way that Trump has rolled out the taxes — announcing them, then suspending them, then threatening new ones — has made it even more difficult to plan. ADVERTISEMENT 'The unpredictability just injects an element of chaos,'' Butcher said. Aylsworth, in Arizona, said big brewers have whole teams of people to calculate the impact of tariffs, but smaller brewers must stretch their resources to navigate them. That's on top of the other complexities of running a brewery, from zoning laws to licensing permits to labor shortages. But for many brewers, the heaviest burden right now is lower sales as customers cut back on beer, Aylsworth said. That's why many brewers are trying hard not to raise prices. 'In today's world, with the economy and the high level of uncertainty, people are spending less,' Cole said. 'Beer is an affordable luxury, and we want to make sure we don't lose that.'' ADVERTISEMENT
The Independent
30-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Buzzkill: Trump's trade wars threaten America's craft brewers already reeling from changing tastes
America's craft brewers already have enough problems. Hard seltzers and cocktails are muscling into beer sales. Millennials and Gen Z don't drink as much as their elders. Brewpubs still haven't fully recovered from the shock of COVID-19 five years ago. Now there's a new threat: President Donald Trump's tariffs, including levies of 25% on imported steel and aluminum and on goods from Canada and Mexico. 'It's going to cost the industry a substantial amount of money,' said Matt Cole, brewmaster at Ohio-based Fat Head's Brewery. Trump' trade war 'will be crippling for our industry if this carries out into months and years.' The tariffs, some of which have been suspended until April 2, could impact brewers in ways big and small, said Bart Watson, president and CEO of the Brewers Association, the trade group for craft beer. Aluminum cans are in Trump's crosshairs. And nearly all the steel kegs used by U.S. brewers are made in Germany, so a tariff on finished steel products raises the cost of kegs. Tariffs on Canadian products like barley and malt would also increase costs. And some brewers depend on raspberries and other fruit from Mexico, Watson said. At Port City Brewing in Alexandria, Virginia, founder Bill Butcher worries that he'll have to raise the price of a six-pack of his best-selling Optimal Wit and other brews to $18.99 from around $12.99, and to charge more for a pint at his tasting room. 'Are people still going to come here and pay $12 a pint instead of $8?'' he said. 'Our business will slow down.'' For Port City, the biggest threat comes from the looming tariff on Canadian imports. Every three weeks, the brewery receives a 40,000-pound truckload of pilsner malt from Canada, which goes into a 55,000-pound silo on the brewery's grounds. Butcher said he can't find malt of comparable quality anywhere else. Trump's tariffs also hit Port City in a round-about way: The levy on aluminum, which went into effect March 12, is causing big brewers to switch from aluminum cans to bottles. Port City, which bottles 70% of its beer, found itself unable to get bottles. 'Our bottle supplier is cutting us of at the end of the month,'' Butcher said. 'That caught us by surprise.'' Fat Head's Brewery gets its barley from Canada. Cole said it could shift to sources in Idaho and Montana, but the shipping logistics are more complicated. And Trump's tariffs, by putting Canadian barley at a competitive disadvantage, would allow U.S. producers to raise domestic prices. Fat Head's is trying to mitigate the impact of the tariffs. Anticipating higher aluminum prices, for instance, the brewery stockpiled beer cans — which it gets from a U.S. supplier — and now has 3 million cans in its warehouse, 30% of what it needs annually. It has also shifted production to painted cans, which are cheaper than those with shrink-wrapped film sleeves. In Arizona, some brewers are already eliminating or reducing the beers they offer in aluminum cans to cut costs, said Cale Aylsworth, the director of sales and relations at O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery and president of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild. 'This is a blow to Arizona craft. I hate to see less local options on the shelf,' Aylsworth said. Some brewers have also lost access to store shelves from one big customer: Canada, which is the top foreign market for U.S. craft beer, accounting for almost 38% of exports. But Canadians are furious that Trump targeted their products, and Canadian importers have been cancelling orders and pulling U.S. beer off store shelves. The tariffs come at an already difficult time for brewers. After years of steady growth — the number of U.S. breweries more than doubled to 9,736 between 2014 and 2024 — the industry is struggling to compete with seltzers and other beverages and to win over younger customers. In 2024, brewery closings outnumbered openings for the first time since the mid-2000s, Watson of the Brewers Association said. He estimates that U.S. craft beer production dipped 2% to 3% last year. 'Craft brewing had a period of phenomenal growth, but we are not in that era anymore,' he said. 'We're in a more mature market.' Port City's production peaked in 2019 at 16,000 barrels of beer — equivalent to 220,000 cases. Then COVID hit and hammered the company's draft beer business in bars and restaurants. The comeback has been slow. Butcher expects Port City to produce 13,000 barrels this year. The brewery seeks to set itself apart by emphasizing its award-winning brews. In 2015, Port City was named small brewery of the year at the Great American Beer Festival. But it isn't easy with import taxes threatening to raise the cost of ingredients and packaging. 'It's hard enough to run a small business when your supply chain is in intact,'' he said. And the erratic way that Trump has rolled out the taxes — announcing them, then suspending them, then threatening new ones — has made it even more difficult to plan. 'The unpredictability just injects an element of chaos,'' Butcher said. Aylsworth, in Arizona, said big brewers have whole teams of people to calculate the impact of tariffs, but smaller brewers must stretch their resources to navigate them. That's on top of the other complexities of running a brewery, from zoning laws to licensing permits to labor shortages. But for many brewers, the heaviest burden right now is lower sales as customers cut back on beer, Aylsworth said. That's why many brewers are trying hard not to raise prices. 'In today's world, with the economy and the high level of uncertainty, people are spending less,' Cole said. 'Beer is an affordable luxury, and we want to make sure we don't lose that.''
