Coronavirus: Flagship Brewery delivers craft beer to your doorstep - silive.com

STATEN ISLAND BUSINESS STRONG: This is the 11th report in a series of stories about Staten Island small business owners reinventing their products/services to try to remain profitable during the coronavirus pandemic. Each week during this crisis, Business Writer Tracey Porpora will profile businesses adjusting to the situation.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shuttered the tap room of Flagship Brewery, Tompkinsville, the owners of the craft beer company knew they had to figure out a way to get their product to loyal customers.

“In the beginning it was very scary. You were getting information, but you were getting it a little more every day,” said Jay Sykes, Flagship co-owner, founder and president. “We had to come to terms with the fact that our tap room, which is a huge revenue source for us, was not going to be there anymore during the pandemic.”

Plus, many of the bars and restaurants that serve Flagship beers were shuttered. So this was another huge financial loss for the brewery.

Never before had breweries been allowed to deliver beer to residential homes. But that changed when breweries were included in the list of essential businesses.

“We were never able to go direct to people’s homes to deliver our beer,” said Sykes, noting his partners are Matthew McGinley, and Gary and Sam Angiuli, a father-and-son team who own Minthorne Street -- where the brewery is housed.

“It was a quick learning process,” he added, noting that the owners began canning their own beer right before the pandemic began.

“A few things lined up for us. We had been using a mobile canning company to can our beer. ...But right before this all happened, our own canning line that we purchased arrived here on site," said Sykes, noting the brewery’s revenue was built mostly on the sale of draft beer.

But thanks to the new canning operation, Flagship experienced a spike in its supermarket and deli sales. “The amount of volume we were doing through those channels definitely rose during the pandemic,” said Sykes.

A KEY CONVERSATION

But a key conversation in the past turned out to be good fortune for the brewery during the pandemic.

The brewery over the years had gathered names and phone numbers of its loyal customers at the suggestion of Sykes’ good friend, Kevin Lawrie, who owns a neighboring co-working space, called Enrichmint on Minthorne Street.

“With Kevin’s help we created a huge data base, so when the pandemic started we were able to reach out, and have been delivering on Staten Island every day,” said Sykes, who noted the company is also making deliveries to Manhattan and Brooklyn residences. “People also get information about when new beer is coming out through the e-mailing system Kevin set up for us. We thank God every day for this, because it has been a huge help at this time.”

And the doorstep delivery has grown Flagship’s customer base.

“The loss of the keg business was a big blow (to bars and restaurants) but we are very appreciative of the support from Staten Islanders. Also, being able to get up each day and do what we love, and being deemed essential as a brewery, was a huge lifesaver,” said Sykes.

NEW HARD SELTZER

During the pandemic in April, the beer company announced a collaboration with Ralph’s Italian Ices called Ralph’s Hard Seltzer. The variety 12-pack includes Lemon, Watermelon and Orange Creamsicle flavored seltzers -- inspired by popular ices from the borough-based shop.

The hard seltzer was initially launched in May, but will relaunch this weekend after being sold out. It will be available for pickup only at the brewery, said Sykes.

“Being able to tell people we have this new product [via the email list] at a really rough time, has been really helpful for us,” he said.

WHEN CAN THE TAP ROOM REOPEN?

Sykes said he believes the brewery’s tap room will likely be able to operate at about 25% of its full capacity in Phase 2. But with no date for that yet -- NYC’s Phase 1 started on Monday -- he said he is working on other ideas with his partners, including looking into the option of outdoor seating.

“We have a plan in place to make sure safety is our No.1 concern when we can open back up,” he said, noting one of the measures they have already taken is ordering plastic cups for their tap room. “We think it will be a long time before people go back to drinking out of glass.”

FLAGSHIP BREWERY AT A GLANCE

Address: 40 Minthorne St.

Website: www.flagshipbrewery.nyc

Facebook: www.facebook.com/flagship.brewery/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/flagshipbrewery

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This column will temporarily replace SILive/Advance’s New Businesses in Focus column.

If you are a Staten Island Business owner who has reinvented services/products/offerings during the coronavirus pandemic, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com. Please put “Staten Island Business Strong” in the subject line of your email.

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