The COVID-19 pandemic crashed upon the world with destruction in its wake, impacting nearly everyone. Yet where destruction brings pain and toil, life continues its march with new strength, resilience, and creativity.
“Our business dropped by over 90% overnight,” states Tim Larsen, cidermaker at Snowdrift Cider Co., regarding the limitations placed on businesses in Washington State. “We kept our employees working as long as we possibly could, but did have to furlough our entire staff … it was a heart-wrenching decision to make.”
But pain has a way of focusing attention, and Tim and the owners, like so many, have poured time and energy into taking a hard look at what they have to work with, uncovering new strategies to move forward—and finding opportunities to help those also struggling.
…Like the restaurant industry, which was devastated, had to furlough thousands of employees, and quickly scramble to offer delivery and takeout services.
Resilience, Resistance, Strength
For some, the pivot has turned into a positive. Zeeks Pizza is a partner restaurant in the Hero Meals program, which delivers fresh meals to front-line workers, donated by supportive community members. That’s not the only plus. Tommy Brooks, Director of Business Development at Zeeks Pizza, reports another shift: thanks to his team’s creativity, their draft beer & cider sales have increased during this time, with growlers sold to-go, to many who previously would enjoy their evenings in bars.
This move has been good for their business—and it also trickles down to the company’s suppliers, such as Larsen’s cider company. In a time when demand has dried up elsewhere, an opportunity has opened up for them to make a community-minded move and release cider that otherwise would not have sold during this time. So Snowdrift Cider Co. is opening up their 2019 reserves—at cost—to give restaurants an authentic, affordable cider that delivers a special experience from their cider orchard.
“The goal is to have something exciting out, to draw people out to support restaurants (even if it’s takeout), so they can get more employees working again,” says Larsen. As they stand in support of restaurants, they’ve named this cider Solidarity. “We don’t have a whole lot to offer at this point, but we do have cider – and we’re sharing that!”
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For more information, or to schedule an interview with Snowdrift Cider Co., please contact Tim Larsen at (509) 885-2734, tim@snowdriftcider.com.