2020, the busiest slowest year ever.
We don’t know about you all, but 2020 has felt a whole lot like a dream state….and not a fun, feel-good trippy dream. Our plans for the year, both personal and professional, were almost universally canceled or put on hold. Certainly trivial concerns within the context of the racial and social injustices that have seemed to trap our city and country in perpetuity. Sprinkle on a healthy serving of being physically stuck in the same place and we have what can best be described as Groundhogs day, but without a toaster to drop in the bathtub.
I don’t want to say that 2020 has been all negative. After all,history shows the most remarkable human feats arise through the greatest adversity. While so many among us have fallen ill, so too have we as a nation finally seen essential workers for how essential they are. While our friends and neighbors have continued to be victimized by systemic racism, so too have those insulated from its effects begun to see and contemplate its ills. In our isolation from our nearby friends and family, we have reconnected with those more distant. Two sides of a very disruptive coin.
Sociable has certainly not escaped from this most fickle of coins. For the first time ever we sold less product in the currentyear than in the previous. A humbling reversal for a fast-growing small business. As a result, our team is smaller and we’ve had to cut way back on the full gamut of promotional stuff we love to do, from liquor store samplings to hosting concerts at our taproom. Despite these setbacks our team has accomplished some amazing feats in 2020. We launched a killer new 80 calorie cider (Skinny Tire, a burgeoning staff favorite), debuted a totally new brand in a totally new category with SQUOZE hard seltzer, and entered into a partnership to begin producing and marketing a line of non-alcoholic products under the brand name Superior Craft Elixirs (Re-launching in 2021). We went from being a cider company to a beverage company in the middle of a pandemic. A testament to what a fantastic team we have at Sociable.
You also may have noticed a slew of other changes, both small and big, that Covid brought to Sociable. Most obviously, we really leaned into Sociable Distancing. What’s more, we found a Zamboni on Ebay to make our ice rink better than ever, and built some very groovy wood-fired firepit tables for an unparalleled outdoor-only winter taproom experience. On the production side, you can’t miss our second outdoor fermenter, and you may have seen some new (masked) faces on the production team who have been helping us keep up with the demand for cans from our distributor and off-premise partners. And, because delivery seems to be working for Amazon, we even launched a remote crowler service (Taproom Direct) with our friends at Fair State Brewing Coop.
We hope these Covid required changes have made our business better, while battling with the reality of how much worse our business is in light of the decimation of the bars and restaurants around the state. It’s been inspiring to see the resilience and creativity of these restaurateurs in the face of a near impossible situation, but all the plucky grit in the world doesn’t make it any less impossible. Our hopes for 2021 are that our neighbors continue to take necessary Covid precautions, that federal leadership will be ready with a plan for effective vaccine distribution and that state and local elected officials step up to the plate to help this most vital part of our economy. As that happens, we cannot wait to return to our roots schlepping Sociable kegs to the very establishments that weave the rich tapestry of Twin Cities culture. My heart aches for a pint of Freewheeler with friends I can’t hear over the live music at the 331. I am cautiously optimistic that 2021 can deliver that for us, and boldly optimistic that no matter what happens this year, we are going to see a Minnesota dining come back about which Disney is going to want to make a movie.
Happy New Year, Sociable Nation.