Can-Demic

March 15, 2020.  This was a difficult and scary day for many Ohio bars, restaurants, breweries, wineries and various other businesses.  This was the day that Birdfish and our peers across the State learned that we would be shutting our doors in an effort to curb the spread of the Coronavirus.  On the evening of March 15th, our team huddled to create a game plan for survival.  Our solution was to make a huge leap into pivoting our business into a packaged product – primarily cans.  The days to follow we ordered as many cans as our facility would hold and began to execute our plan that would keep our business afloat during the most difficult time of adversity that we have experienced.

Our business model changed during this time period from an operation that was primarily aimed a onsite tasting and serving and complimented by limited release packaged offerings and wholesale distribution.  The Can-Demic required our business to sell nearly 100% of our products through the packaged beer in cans. 

During our game planning we established an efficient and COVID friendly brew thru with online ordering capabilities.  In addition, our sales team hit the pavement to build on existing relationships with Chalet Premier, Vintage Estates, Summit Drive Thru, Havana House, and Cork and Cap to name a few.  Our sales team then started to bring on new wholesale customers through the greater Youngstown area and surrounding communities such as Giant Eagle, Sparkle, 101 Bottles (Kent), and locally owned convenience stores.  During the peak months of the Can-Demic shutdown period, our business sold nearly 50,000 cans and almost 200 barrels!  This was a great achievement for our small brewery that averaged 12 barrels per month in can sales during 2019. 

This growth in packaged beer sales created a need for our company.  At the pace we were going and no definite end in sight with the pandemic, we made a decision to bring in a new canning line of Twin Monkeys.  This addition allowed us to meet our new demand for packaged beer and would make our production processes more efficient.  After putting the new machine into service, we positioned our company to continue to provide packaged beer on a consistent basis.  We are continuing to serve our taproom customers with various can options at all times, but also serving our various retailers throughout the greater Youngstown area. 

Lastly, we owe our dedicated staff, friends and family, and customers for the support during our “Can-Demic.”