![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.beermebc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Trading-Post.jpg\")
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nFrom What\u2019s Brewing magazine\u2019s Winter 2020-21 issue<\/em><\/a><\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.beermebc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/tradingpostlogo-250x240.jpg\" "\\"Trading")
<\/a>BC\u2019s 200 craft breweries were built to be community gathering places, forgoing TV screens in favour of long, shared tables and mingling. For now, that is no longer the advantage it was.<\/em><\/p>\nIn the Winter 2020-21 issue of What\u2019s Brewing magazine<\/a>, a group of industry members discuss how BC craft breweries will survive hospitality\u2019s harshest ever winter with slashed capacity, frozen patios and a raging virus, and what awaits them in 2021 if a wary public continues to stay home. Today, we hear from Hannah Brown,<\/strong> Marketing Manager at Langley-based Trading Post Brewing Company<\/strong><\/a> and its three (going on four) BC locations.<\/em><\/p>\nTrading Post has a sister company called Red Door Events<\/strong><\/a> which evolved from the large beer festivals the brewery owners were organizing. So Hannah does double duty in this special interview.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.beermebc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/IMG_20180210_133715-750x563.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAt Trading Post\u2019s Two Year Birthday Bash in 2018<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Q&A with Trading Post Brewing\u2019s Hannah Brown<\/h2>\nQ: The last time we checked in with you, there was no pandemic. Now, there is no end in sight. How are you holding up, and how busy is the brewhouse these days?<\/h5>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.beermebc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Hannah-Brown-320x390.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHannah Brown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A: It\u2019s a strange time, but given everything that\u2019s going on, we\u2019re doing pretty good! The demand for beer and food is still there, although we\u2019ve definitely seen a switch to more off sales and take out, and smaller groups coming in, but our kitchen and brewery teams are keeping busy.<\/p>\n
Q: How did you cope with the arrival of the pandemic last year? How was traffic across your properties?<\/h5>\n
A: When COVID numbers were creeping up over 500 a day, we saw a pretty drastic drop in business. With Dr Henry telling people to stay home and only interact with one\u2019s immediate household, it seems most people listened and hunkered down at home. But with the addition of new outdoor spaces so people could still visit safely, our sales were strong over last summer and into September.<\/p>\n
Q: Winter is a big concern for many hospitality businesses. How much outdoor capacity have you been using, and do you have a plan for the colder weather?<\/h5>\n
A: In 2020 we converted our parking lot at our Fort Langley Eatery into an outdoor patio, so we\u2019re lucky to have 50 additional seats there that we can keep using.<\/p>\n
At our Abbotsford Eatery, we \u2018winterized\u2019 our summer patio with tents and heaters to utilize those 20 seats into the winter months too!<\/p>\n
Q: Do you think that COVID will permanently change people\u2019s behaviour, and make society less trusting of close face-to-face interactions with strangers, even after vaccines emerge? Do you think craft beer drinkers are more likely or less likely to be mindful of keeping their distance than the general public?<\/h5>\n
A: We think COVID has definitely changed how people interact and how they behave when they\u2019re in social settings, and we don\u2019t think people will just \u2018forget\u2019 that even when there\u2019s a vaccine. It seems crazy to think we once went to beer festivals with 5000+ people, or would sit next to complete strangers at community tables in Tasting Rooms.<\/p>\n
Our guests have been very receptive and respectable to keeping their distance when visiting us, but they are a community that knows each other and wants to share experiences, so we think it\u2019s definitely harder for them to not strike up a conversation with someone at the next table, or try each other\u2019s beers when out with friends. But being so community focused means they care about us, the other guests, and their friends, so they\u2019re the kind of people who are going to do everything they can to get us all to the other side of this!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.beermebc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/31-IMG_20190518_152335-750x430.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAt Fort Langley Beer & Food Festival 2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.beermebc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Red-Door-Events-Logo-1-320x337.png\" "\\"Red")
<\/a>Hannah on Red Door Events<\/strong><\/h3>\nQ: Have you held many \u201cvirtual events\u201d, or do you plan to in the future?<\/h5>\n
A: We haven\u2019t yet, but we\u2019ve talked about hosting virtual trivia nights, virtual tastings and virtual brewery tours.<\/p>\n
Q: Has the pandemic shut down your festival business?<\/h5>\n
A: COVID has affected all of the events the Red Door Events team puts on. The first 2020 event we had to cancel was the Fort Langley Beer & Food Festival,<\/strong> our kickoff for the summer events season that happens every year on the May Long weekend. Based on our early bird ticket sales from November 2019 to March of last year, we had projected to sell out our 4000 tickets again.\u00a0In late March, we made the call to postpone the event until June, then in June to postpone it again until September. We ultimately cancelled the 2020 event in late July.<\/p>\nOur second loss was the Summerset Music & Arts Festival,<\/strong> which was scheduled for the last weekend in August. Again, we were aiming to sell over 4000 tickets at the three-day festival, and host some amazing local and international artists. After COVID, we planned to turn the event into a drive-through concert where ticket holders would remain in their car, socially distanced from other attendees. Then just a few weeks before the event, Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that no drive-in events of any size could take place.<\/p>\nWe pivoted once again and turned last year\u2019s Summerset festival into \u2018Summerset Sundays\u2019, <\/em>an intimate concert series hosted in the back parking lot of our Fort Langley Eatery every Sunday for five weeks in August. It was a huge success, with artists like Washboard Union, The Heels<\/strong>, and Andrew Allen<\/strong>, and each session selling out its 50 tickets in a few days.<\/p>\nQ: What should we expect this year?<\/h5>\n
A: We are optimistic that we will be able to host our events in some capacity in 2021, so our team is keeping busy researching and brainstorming ways in which we can do so safely.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/a>BC\u2019s 200 craft breweries were built to be community gathering places, forgoing TV screens in favour of long, shared tables and mingling. For now, that is no longer the advantage it was.<\/em><\/p>\nIn the Winter 2020-21 issue of What\u2019s Brewing magazine<\/a>, a group of industry members discuss how BC craft breweries will survive hospitality\u2019s harshest ever winter with slashed capacity, frozen patios and a raging virus, and what awaits them in 2021 if a wary public continues to stay home. Today, we hear from Hannah Brown,<\/strong> Marketing Manager at Langley-based Trading Post Brewing Company<\/strong><\/a> and its three (going on four) BC locations.<\/em><\/p>\n Trading Post has a sister company called Red Door Events<\/strong><\/a> which evolved from the large beer festivals the brewery owners were organizing. So Hannah does double duty in this special interview.<\/em><\/p>\n At Trading Post\u2019s Two Year Birthday Bash in 2018<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hannah Brown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A: It\u2019s a strange time, but given everything that\u2019s going on, we\u2019re doing pretty good! The demand for beer and food is still there, although we\u2019ve definitely seen a switch to more off sales and take out, and smaller groups coming in, but our kitchen and brewery teams are keeping busy.<\/p>\n A: When COVID numbers were creeping up over 500 a day, we saw a pretty drastic drop in business. With Dr Henry telling people to stay home and only interact with one\u2019s immediate household, it seems most people listened and hunkered down at home. But with the addition of new outdoor spaces so people could still visit safely, our sales were strong over last summer and into September.<\/p>\n A: In 2020 we converted our parking lot at our Fort Langley Eatery into an outdoor patio, so we\u2019re lucky to have 50 additional seats there that we can keep using.<\/p>\n At our Abbotsford Eatery, we \u2018winterized\u2019 our summer patio with tents and heaters to utilize those 20 seats into the winter months too!<\/p>\n A: We think COVID has definitely changed how people interact and how they behave when they\u2019re in social settings, and we don\u2019t think people will just \u2018forget\u2019 that even when there\u2019s a vaccine. It seems crazy to think we once went to beer festivals with 5000+ people, or would sit next to complete strangers at community tables in Tasting Rooms.<\/p>\n Our guests have been very receptive and respectable to keeping their distance when visiting us, but they are a community that knows each other and wants to share experiences, so we think it\u2019s definitely harder for them to not strike up a conversation with someone at the next table, or try each other\u2019s beers when out with friends. But being so community focused means they care about us, the other guests, and their friends, so they\u2019re the kind of people who are going to do everything they can to get us all to the other side of this!<\/p>\n At Fort Langley Beer & Food Festival 2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A: We haven\u2019t yet, but we\u2019ve talked about hosting virtual trivia nights, virtual tastings and virtual brewery tours.<\/p>\n A: COVID has affected all of the events the Red Door Events team puts on. The first 2020 event we had to cancel was the Fort Langley Beer & Food Festival,<\/strong> our kickoff for the summer events season that happens every year on the May Long weekend. Based on our early bird ticket sales from November 2019 to March of last year, we had projected to sell out our 4000 tickets again.\u00a0In late March, we made the call to postpone the event until June, then in June to postpone it again until September. We ultimately cancelled the 2020 event in late July.<\/p>\n Our second loss was the Summerset Music & Arts Festival,<\/strong> which was scheduled for the last weekend in August. Again, we were aiming to sell over 4000 tickets at the three-day festival, and host some amazing local and international artists. After COVID, we planned to turn the event into a drive-through concert where ticket holders would remain in their car, socially distanced from other attendees. Then just a few weeks before the event, Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that no drive-in events of any size could take place.<\/p>\n We pivoted once again and turned last year\u2019s Summerset festival into \u2018Summerset Sundays\u2019, <\/em>an intimate concert series hosted in the back parking lot of our Fort Langley Eatery every Sunday for five weeks in August. It was a huge success, with artists like Washboard Union, The Heels<\/strong>, and Andrew Allen<\/strong>, and each session selling out its 50 tickets in a few days.<\/p>\n A: We are optimistic that we will be able to host our events in some capacity in 2021, so our team is keeping busy researching and brainstorming ways in which we can do so safely.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nQ&A with Trading Post Brewing\u2019s Hannah Brown<\/h2>\n
Q: The last time we checked in with you, there was no pandemic. Now, there is no end in sight. How are you holding up, and how busy is the brewhouse these days?<\/h5>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nQ: How did you cope with the arrival of the pandemic last year? How was traffic across your properties?<\/h5>\n
Q: Winter is a big concern for many hospitality businesses. How much outdoor capacity have you been using, and do you have a plan for the colder weather?<\/h5>\n
Q: Do you think that COVID will permanently change people\u2019s behaviour, and make society less trusting of close face-to-face interactions with strangers, even after vaccines emerge? Do you think craft beer drinkers are more likely or less likely to be mindful of keeping their distance than the general public?<\/h5>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Hannah on Red Door Events<\/strong><\/h3>\nQ: Have you held many \u201cvirtual events\u201d, or do you plan to in the future?<\/h5>\n
Q: Has the pandemic shut down your festival business?<\/h5>\n
Q: What should we expect this year?<\/h5>\n
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