Sudbury brewers hope sales don't fizzle in latest lockdown

If the province can't keep its COVID-19 numbers under control, it could be a long summer for Sudbury's burgeoning brewery and distillery scene. 

The province recently extended its stay-at-home orders by two weeks in hopes of levelling out the number of COVID-19 cases. If cases remain high, tourists may opt out – or be prohibited from –  travelling to northern Ontario. 

The lack of tourism dollars will be a hit on the bottom line, Corissa Blaseg, marketing and event manager for Crosscut Distillery, said. 

"Tourism is a big one for us," Blaseg said. "We're very fortunate to be the go-to spot, where you bring your family and friends who are visiting from out of town." 

"On Kelly Lake Road, we're neighbours with some local breweries. So it's kind of like a little strip or a crawl where people can experience different beers and spirits," she said. 

"So if we don't have that this year, that definitely negatively impacts the revenue."

At this time in 2020, Crosscut turned its attention to making hand sanitizer to help alleviate the shortage. As Sudbury's COVID-19 cases dropped, and summer began, business began to pick up again for the distillery.

Blaseg said they've got their fingers crossed that this lockdown will help the rising number of cases in both the city and the province, and they can refocus on their patio and spirits-tasting experience.

In the meantime, they're looking ahead to what their customers will likely need in the summer.

"We're really hopeful for the summer," Blaseg said. "Of course, it depends on where the restrictions lie, but we're hoping that we can still continue to provide quality products and a nice tourist destination if that allows for it.

"A year ago we were packaging sanitizer. So we've come a long way in a year. And so we're optimistic that we're going to have a good summer."

But Shawn Mailloux, owner of Stack Brewing, said it's going to be difficult to stay afloat if the lockdown continues.

"Like other businesses, a lot of our summer sales depend on people getting together, because drinking is kind of a social thing," Mailloux said.

"You get together with your neighbour, you get together with family and friends and stuff like that, and you have the beer outside on your deck.

He said a lot of their sales depend on the social aspect and selling to the restaurants.

"So if we're in a stay-at-home order throughout the summer, it's going to be very, very difficult for a lot of us to stay in business and see 2022."

As for the lockdown extension, Mailloux said they've learned to adapt to COVID-19 regulations, but eventually the constant adjustments take their toll.

"It's like death by a thousand cuts. You can only take so much, especially businesses that don't have a long history. If you're relatively new you don't have all your loans paid off. You don't have that nest egg put aside," Mailloux said.

"So it's quite, quite difficult. But we're getting a little better at it."