December 2022 Newsletter - The Year In Review aka Best Laid Plans

Brewery News

Hi all,

This time last year, I spoke from a position of deep pessimism - it looked likely we were going to be heading into a 3rd lockdown, and Scot Gov's official advice to the population was don't go to pubs, bars or restaurants. It was a tough few months and like everyone personally and professionally, the priority has been to keep heads above water while attempting to strengthen our position in the industry.

Despite this, objectively we've had a very good year in 2022 despite the many obstacles - there is a lot to look back on and be proud of. Campervan beers are available in more places than ever, and tasting better too - we've broken into Northern England, have great distribution and can even be drank in Singapore! I attended a beer festival in Barcelona (there are some perks to brewery ownership!) where the beers were rapturously received, which was heartening.

Campervan can be drank in some of Scotland's finest alehouses (Kay's Bar), best attractions (Johnnie Walker Princess Street), luxury hotels (Gleneagles Townhouse), farmshops (Loch Leven's Larder), nationally from Oddbins, and through the many bars, restaurants and independent bottle shops who we love. To do this while never betraying our qualities and beliefs is something I'm proud of. We've remained malleable to the sways of the industry, as we have to.

I'm also proud of the team at the brewery, who are a talented, grafting bunch. Jaime, Aidan and Jake have all been great additions, while at Lost In Leith Sophie and the team have really kicked on this year with some spectacular events.

Things could have been even better. It's no secret that we were initially looking for a new site to expand into, and then once we decided to stay on Jane Street, to expand and modernise with a new plant. Pat put a huge amount of work into plant design, working with manufacturers, sustainable practises, heat retention, malt silos, solar panels, mezzanine taproom. A shiny, new Campervan world, with the funding secured. It's a great vision of where we want to be.

We were there, finger on the button, and then Liz Truss went full steam ahead. The economy blew up, confidence collapsed, savings blown, lots of the hard work post-Covid in household and businesses up in smoke. We ummed and ahhed. Could we at least still build the floor? Would that just be a folly?

The decision was made for now to hold fire, but it remains our ambition for next year, and it's absolutely possible and realistically necessary for us to achieve the next level. Next year will have its challenges, with the sky-high energy and production costs along with the complete lunacy of the Deposit Return Scheme likely to kill off many small retailers and breweries.

But we go in to it positively, chiefly thanks to yourselves, who have always backed us - we literally couldn't do it without you, and we hope to retain your trust and belief in us over the next year. We've extended our Support Local discount for the rest of 2022 as a thank you, and because everyone needs a little bit more help this Christmas.

Cheers,
Paul

November 2022 Newsletter - Supporting Local

Hi all,

We were as gutted as anyone yesterday when the news became public of the closure of Top Out by the New Year. Andi and his team had created a great brewery with some truly memorable releases, and their loss will be keenly felt in the local market. One reason for the rise of craft brewing was for independent breweries with new ideas to be able to offer new, exciting alternatives for consumers aside from the same old macro garbage.

Each closure is a loss for this taste diversity, but most importantly we need to think about the people losing their jobs in such a desperate economic times. Top Out were one of several breweries even yesterday to announce their closure - it's not a localised issue.

Being a brewery in times like this is like being in an economic concertina; we are pushed by an ever-expanding cost of production, with all primary ingredients going up, energy costs being passed on to us. On the other side, we're up against a wall as bars are limited in what they're able to pay for a keg as they're unable or unwilling to pass on costs to customers (fair enough). A recent study suggested that if every additional cost was passed on to the customer from the core ingredients upwards to the point of pouring, a pint would cost over £18. It's not unreasonable in such circumstances to come to the same conclusion as Top Out that there comes a point where there is no point. Passion doesn't pay the bills.

Thankfully we're not quite in that position, and have many positives to look back on this year. Much of that is built on that vital local support and goodwill that kept us going through COVID and has helped sustain us since. Now more than ever, that local support is a lifeline, and supporting local is the only way many businesses will keep going. We have a young team, with none living further than a 20 minute walk from the brewery. This is the same for many others you'll walk past everyday.

So coming into this Christmas when belts are tightened, I ask that you support local businesses. Not just ourselves, but other local breweries - Pilot, Newsbarns, Donzoko, Otherworld; other local off-licenses - Cornelius, Leith Bottle Shop, Beets, Cork & Cask, Great Grog; other local bars - Mother Surperior, Leith Depot, Nauticus, Jolly Judge, Dreadnought; other local artisans - Kilted Donuts, Pastry Section, Williams & Johnson.

We need you.

Cheers,
Paul

October 2022 Newsletter - Small Business vs The Bots

Hi all,

Firstly the good news, we have a new beer launching today - Galaxy Haze -  and pouring exclusively at the Taproom and Lost In Leith all weekend. It's a fantastic Hazy Pale Ale using Australian superhop Galaxy, released just in time for the visit of their Rugby team to Edinburgh in a few weeks.

Thanks to the many of you who alerted us to the news that our Campervan Taproom Instagram account had been hacked, and I can only apologise to those who have been phished by the account sending messages. We were one of many local businesses to either have accounts hacked or replicated last weekend. The hacker (or bot) has managed to change all the passwords, email information and account name, so in effect the account has now been stolen from us, and we're unable to either delete the account nor claim it back.

You would think that Instagram/Meta might be willing to help their own customers, but they're perfectly happy to suck the cash but leave the business to wilt. IG customer services does not have a human element - phone or instant chat - so you're left with the farcical situation of trying to find a solution to a bot attack by interacting with a bot. For our situation there is no apparent solution available.

To all intents and purposes the account is gone, but the damage is two-fold for us. While the stolen account remains active, it harasses our customers under our name. For us as a small business which has built its reputation organically with very little marketing, the loss of an account with 1,500 active followers promoting our wee bar is massive.

It's a frustrating and very modern problem, and the complete unwillingness of Instagram to help in any way shows what we all know - big tech does not care for small business.

Cheers,
Paul