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This isn\\u2019t the first time in his 26 years in the craft beer industry that Eric Wallace, Cofounder and President of Left Hand Brewing Co. and former Chairman of the Brewers Association Board of Directors, has had to deal with adverse business conditions. The late 90\\u2019s and early 00\\u2019s were a period of net contraction for craft beer, as tepid consumer reaction failed to deliver the growth that many over-leveraged breweries expected. Today, the pandemic poses a different sort of challenge\\u2014a widely felt social, health, and economic event that was as unexpected as it has been severe\\u2014but lessons learned from craft beer\\u2019s early period are still apropos.

In this special industry-focused episode, Wallace weaves through the granular operations issues facing the brewery, from the challenge and necessity in furloughing employees (\\u201cfurlough is not a moral issue\\u2014it\\u2019s surviving; It\\u2019s a requirement; If you\\u2019re going to survive, you have to cut your expenses to match whatever you\\u2019re lucky enough to have coming in\\u201d) to the utter collapse in sales (\\u201cIn March, [draft beer] sales dropped to $1700, from six figures [last year]. We\\u2019re a stout brewery, and we ended up getting shut down on the\\u2026 day before St. Patrick\\u2019s Day\\u201d). Wallace discusses the government tools they\\u2019ve been able to secure, such as a loan through the PPP program, and the challenge in any kind of long-term planning. IRI data may suggest that craft beer sales are up in the grocery channel, but that\\u2019s a small consolation at best for breweries like Left Hand.

\\u201cI\\u2019ve read the IRI data, and I\\u2019m like \\u2018Really? That\\u2019s what\\u2019s happening? Because it doesn\\u2019t feel like it,\\u2019\\u201d says Wallace.

The conversation also turns toward a macro view, with Wallace discussing the shared responsibility of all craft brewers, and all in the hospitality world, to ensure the safety of customers and staff.

\\u201cTo take the short-term view, right now with all the largesse that the government is raining on our heads, just because philosophically you disagree and your freedom is being imposed upon\\u2026 that\\u2019s bullshit,\\u201d says Wallace. \\u201cI want to open as bad as anybody, but I also feel an obligation to be a responsible citizen, business owner, member of society.\\u201d

What will the future look like? Wallace and Left Hand are planning on two years of severely limited business, as the world grapples with the disease while working to find a vaccine. But that won\\u2019t be the end of it. Expect 3-5 years after that to \\u201cdig out,\\u201d pay off debt incurred in the survival process, and get back on any sort of sound economic footing. There is no quick bounce-back from this pandemic and the ripple effect it is having throughout the economy. This episode is a sobering and honest look at the reality facing the world\\u2019s craft brewers.

This episode is brought to you by:

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