Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 3, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 7 Greater Good adapts in the age of the coronavirus BY RILEY GARAND Worcester Business Journal Editorial Intern G reater Good Imperial Brewing Co. continues to adapt, innovate and survive during the chal- lenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Paul Wengender, who founded the Worcester brewery in 2015 and is president and CEO, said the pandemic is the biggest challenge the business has faced. Wengender faced transitions in many parts of his businesses operations throughout the increased restrictions in the state. Unlike establishments such as Domino's or Chipotle, which had take- out delivery systems already in place, Wengender said Greater Good did not. "We quickly invested time and direct money into a digital ordering platform, for takeout beer and food, accessible through social media and our website," Wengender said. "We coupled that with touchless curbside service and walk-up packaged beer pickup." Another change in operations was refraining from selling dra beer, due to the pause in production, and shiing towards 100% cans and glass packaging. Financial support and changes Next to the new delivery service, Greater Good has dealt with many financial changes including a revenue drop due to other states and breweries opening earlier, reduced staffing, and little financial government support. "Overall, the revenues for taproom and kitchen have been down 55-60%," Wengender said. "But we consider that a victory given the shutdown period and the subsequent reduced capacity period we are currently in. e one dip we experienced was the gap between sur- rounding states opening, four weeks or so before Massachusetts. In that period, the brewery traffic diverted away from Massachusetts and our revenue dropped into a trough." In terms of payroll and finances, Greater Good didn't have to furlough any salaried employees, but Wengen- der decided to personally take the biggest hit financially with his own salary until the brewery got some government assistance. Greater Good kept manufacturing going throughout the pandemic, switch- ing staff around where they were most needed. "We even had the chef on the canning line helping in the brewery," Wengender said. "Front-of-house staff was reduced to three during the shutdown, the rest were taken care of by Uncle Sam, but we are back at 10. We had 18 front-of- house staff on March 1." Greater Good dealt with adversity related to safety restrictions. ese losses related to its inability to sell to restaurants and gain revenue, and due to pandemic concerns, eating the costs of spoiled beer. "One thing that the public may not realize is that not only did breweries lose a significant amount of revenue," Wen- gender said. "Restaurants are probably 40% of many breweries' revenue through dra sales, but all of the inventory of dra beer sitting at restaurants on March 15 went out of code and returned to breweries or distributors. So the shut- down of restaurants cut beer suppliers deeply like a double-edged sword." Community support Wengender highlighted the outpour- ing support Greater Good received from consumers during the challenging times. is was especially evident when it was allowed to open outside. "Our taproom and kitchen depends on human beings coming to the brew- ery," Wengender said. "e community around our brand responded with vigor, and immediately people continued to show up for curbside and pickup of packaged beer. "ankfully, once we were allowed to reopen outside, the City of Worces- ter was an amazing partner as usual," he said, with the city giving licensing exemptions to allow outdoor consump- tion that would otherwise need special approval. "Our community came back to experience our offerings in a safe, responsible, and fun manner." Greater Good President and CEO Paul Wengender (bottom right) and part of his crew at the Worcester brewery W

• Cover