Description: Two of Canada’s largest craft beer makers reported that sales were up in 2020, despite the fact that Corona virus had shut down sales channels in bars and restaurants. Big Rock Brewery of Calgary had its highest sales in seven years. Waterloo Brewing Ltd. saw strong growth of 20% during the year, a figure helped along by the fact that only a small percentage of its sales is in the bar and restaurant trade.

Date:  March 12, 2021

Source:  thestar.com

 Link: https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/03/12/big-rock-brewery-posts-higher-sales-volumes-in-2020-despite-covid-19-pandemic-woes.html

Discussion points:

1) Do you have any craft breweries in your university community? How have they fared in this strange Covid-19 time?

2) In the article, the Big Rock representative mentions that when bars closed down, the company had to take back a lot of inventory in kegs. Can you think of any strategy that could have prevented the loss of that inventory?

3) The article mentions a term “EBITDA.” What does this term mean? (For some help, see page 14-36 of Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making.)