Last year Wolf’s Ridge saw a lot of issues with packaging, especially cans. Although those problems have eased somewhat through 2021, now the Columbus, Ohio brewery is seeing problems in ingredients like grain, fruit, and other consumables.
“[We’re] seeing increased lead times and drastically increased prices,” said Head Brewer Chris Davison. ”We were told that containers departing from Europe used to see a fee of $500 applied to the shipment, and now are seeing fees of $1,500 or more added.”
That was the breaking point that forced the brewery’s grain suppliers to increase pricing by more than four cents per pound.
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Colorado’s Ratio Beerworks has also seen some delays on ingredients.
One of its malt suppliers has had a very difficult time due to shipping on getting product stateside, explained founder Jason zumBrunnen.
”On some occasions, we’ve had to substitute new malt varieties to accommodate,” he said. ”Our distributor has worked well with us to place a longer-term forecast into effect that helps them source the right ingredients earlier than in the past.
Davison said he is trying to stay nimble and have backup options available for some products.
”The shortages in fruit and puree have literally caused us to rearrange production schedules based on availability and also seek out new suppliers,” he said. ”The constant OOS (Out of Stock) issues we see with specialty grain, especially that from Europe, has caused us to change recipes to accommodate non-ideal substitutes or unknown brands.”
So what should breweries be doing now as anticipation of problems continues to rise? Davison shared a few ideas with Brewer:
- Offer suggestions on substitutes to your suppliers
- Increase the timelines and frequency of communications on OOS issues and delays
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