Page 9 - Beverage Master_DecJan2022

Craft Brewery

and greater Oregon sales, they partner with Bevv,
Packmule, Drizzly and Tavour, which allows them to
have a larger reach both regionally and throughout
the country.

Merchant du Vin:
Specialty Beer Importer

Seattle based Merchant du Vin noticed that the
distribution of their specialty beers increased in
retail stores due to more consumers drinking beers
at home during the pandemic, causing their overall
sales to increase.

On the other hand, bar and restaurants sales
decreased when these establishments were closed
due to Covid-19 restrictions. For example, Orval
Trappist Ale
is one of the
most popu-
lar imported
special-
ty beers
Merchant
du Vin rep-
resents in
the U.S.
While this
beer is available in select stores, the bulk of its
sales come from bars and restaurants that carry a
small but carefully curated craft beer list.

In addition, with the closing of on premise sales,
there were huge losses of keg sales across the U.S.
According to Craig Hartinger, Merchant du Vin’s
marketing manager, “We actually fared better than
some suppliers, but there were hundreds of kegs
that we couldn’t sell.”

Merchant du Vin also lost their ability for their
beer representatives to present beers in person
to potential outlets, as well as opportunities for
in-person consumer tastings. “It took a while to get
our online meetings up to speed,” Hartinger said.

When regions open up, Merchant du Vin plans
on continuing their online connections, resuming
in person visits and reducing their keg options.
Once events can be held in-person, they plan on
exhibiting their wares as applicable, such as their
Samuel Smith ciders, which they featured at Seattle
Ciderfest pre-Covid.

BEVERAGE MASTER December - January 2022 7

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