How Darling Brew survived lockdown & thrived despite adversity
As part of our new series #WhoKnew with Darling Brew, we want to share as much news from the brewery and rare insights from between the tanks. What better way to kick this off than reflecting on what has been top of mind for every DBcrew team mate - Surviving Lockdown!
At Darling Brew, we like to think that the challenges that come our way make us stronger. There's a line by Leonard Cohen that goes 'there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in', and we believe that the cracks our industry sustained over the last two years have succeeded in steering us towards an even brighter future.
"The various levels of COVID-19 lockdowns that impacted the alcohol sales and industry, in general, played a pivotal role in how Darling Brew steered its business over the last two years," explains Tewie Roos, Managing Director at Darling Brew.
"During the first round of hard lockdown, we did a risk analysis and started developing three new non-alcoholic beverages. It also gave rise to our Lockdown Lager, which was an unfiltered trial run for JUST Beer that has now been brought to market. A limited amount of Lockdown Lager was manufactured and sold in numbered bottles."
Additionally, the team also shifted their focus to the brand's marketing channels, to develop those appropriately and finetune the Darling Brew messaging, along with a strong push in terms of online sales by means of a user-friendly e-commerce platform and refreshed web presence in general.
"Our whole team worked extremely hard during each level of lockdown to ensure that we were developing the business and cutting any needless expenses without retrenching any of our valued personnel. It is this continued determination and innovative spirit that has allowed us to band together and thrive despite all the challenges that have come our way," says Tewie proudly.
If the accolades we were fortunate enough to receive recently are anything to go by, the moves we made during this time have stood us in good stead. This includes:
🏆 7 x 2021 African Beer Cup Awards
🏆 Kfm Best of the Cape 'Best Craft Brewery' Award
🏆 Food & Drink 'Best Craft Brewery in the Western Cape' Award
🏆 Design Rush 'Best Website Designs in Summer 2021' for our refreshed website