When Iron Rock Brewing Co. opened in the fall of 2019, the owners anticipated waiting at least a couple of years before giving any thought to selling its beer outside the Labrador City market.
“It’s a lot of equipment to start up a brewery, so we wanted to focus on events,” explained Brian Hurley, who co-owns Iron Rock with his brother, Dave. “We’re going to focus on paying down our debt, have lots of events, get more people into the taproom and bring the community together. That was our mission statement — to bring the people of Labrador together over quality, locally-crafted beer.”
But the COVID-19 pandemic added a wrinkle to those plans within a few months of the business getting off the ground. Last spring, it couldn’t open to the public and had to get creative, as did a lot of other craft breweries in Newfoundland and Labrador.
A fortuitous decision helped Iron Rock get through those months. The business had ordered a small canning line last January — their initial thought was canned beer would appeal to workers flying in and out of the area. The timing of its arrival in early April was opportune.
“We were a couple of months ahead of the game in that sense,” Hurley said, adding a lot of young craft breweries scrambled to get the equipment ordered after the pandemic hit.
Closed for business
With the entire province once again at Alert Level 5, taprooms and bars can’t open. This increases the importance of getting beer into other stores. Since the start of the pandemic last spring, breweries have managed to reach customers in new ways.
Iron Rock is one of several breweries delivering beer to Marie’s Mini Mart convenience stores in the St. John’s metro area. Baccalieu Trail Brewing Co. in Bay Roberts is also among those breweries supplying Marie’s.
“For our business, Marie’s Mini Mart has been basically a lifeline during the pandemic, and I’m sure it’s the same for a lot of breweries in terms of breweries starting up retail for bottles and cans,” said Baccalieu owner Mark Burry. “They made a smart decision there, and now that’s probably the best selection I would say of Newfoundland beer.”
Last March, Baccalieu received a bit of help from Dildo Brewing Co., letting them use its canning line one day a week. Eventually, Baccalieu set up its own bottling line at the brewery in Bay Roberts. Burry said this option was less costly starting out for the business than investing in a canning line, even with the cost of individual bottles exceeding aluminum cans.
That said, Baccalieu is getting ready to have its own canning line by the spring. They’re also in the midst of an expansion to double production capacity. Burry hopes to make Baccalieu products available in stores beyond the Avalon Peninsula.
Growing importance of canning
Last November, Port Rexton Brewing Co. opened a new production facility that could at peak capacity quadruple production. In years past, its canning line was only in use for certain months. During the peak tourism season, the company devoted all its production to supply a busy taproom, along with bars, restaurants and its own retail shop on Torbay Road in St. John’s.
“It’s a lot better,” said brewery co-owner Sonja Mills. “Firstly, at our old site, we were capped at what we could produce, and we were producing at our maximum (capacity). It was pretty frustrating to not be able to produce any more. Now we have a lot more room to increase our production.”
As a result, Port Rexton can now accommodate canning year-round. In addition to Marie’s and Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) stores, some Orange Stores have started stocking Port Rexton beer.
“That’s super important — that’s our main access to our customers right now,” Mills said, adding there seems to be increased interest amongst convenience stores on an almost week-to-week basis to carry more craft beer product. She said Newfoundland and Labrador is fortunate too in this regard, considering some provinces in Canada prohibit beer sales in those stores.
Ripple effect
The company invested in a new and faster canning line, and that purchase has created a ripple effect. Iron Rock recently purchased the old Port Rexton canning line and is in the process of arranging to sell the one it bought last year to Deer Lake’s Crooked Feeder Brewing.
“That became available just as we’re kind of at the position now where we wanted to upgrade,” said Hurley, whose brewery is currently offering flat-rate shipping deals within the province to encourage sales during lockdown.
Quidi Vidi Brewery, the largest craft brewery in the province, has upped its canning game considerably of late. Justin Fong, one of the brewery’s owners, said cans now account for 60 per cent of the beer it produces. Quidi Vidi recently set up branded coolers stocked with their cans at liquor stores and convenience stores.
Late last year, the brewery opened a new Hops Shop on Harbour View Avenue off Torbay Road in St. John’s. In addition to carrying its own beer, the Hops Shop sells other craft brewery creations.
“I think we want to support that craft brewing industry in Newfoundland as much as possible,” he said. “It’s not just about Quidi Vidi — it’s about the industry as a whole. As much as we can do to help get some more availability for some other breweries that are also making fantastic beer, the better.”
In addition to increasing its presence in stores and offering curbside pickup from the Hops Shop, Quidi Vidi started delivering beer in the St. John’s metro area last year in response to the pandemic, taking orders online and making deliveries Thursday through Saturday.
With Newfoundland and Labrador returning to Alert Level 5, Fong said demand for the delivery service is ramping back up.
Distribution challenge
While Mills is happy to see local craft breweries getting products into new markets, she said they continue to face a distribution challenge.
“We don’t have the resources or volumes to warrant our own distribution network — to be able to have a fleet of vehicles, drivers and warehousing around the province. The NLC has a system for their stores through their warehouse, but that’s only for NLC stores and Liquor Expresses, and it’s not the most efficient. We send product there and don’t see it on shelves until a month later.”
The cost of deliveries and potential overnight stays in some scenarios eats up profit margins, Mills said. She believes breweries need to buy into a model where resources are pooled to serve a distribution system they can all use.
“It’s something that I think a lot of us are more and more now needing in times like this and moving forward,” she said.
Andrew Robinson is a business reporter in St. John’s.
