When COVID-19 happened, like many tourism businesses, it was a dramatic change for Thornbury Village Cider and Brew House because they could no longer accept as many visitors. Retail and Hospitality Manager Derek Hammond and the team at Thornbury Craft knew they had to rapidly come up with new ways of serving guests. Rejigging the experience to afford more outdoor seating and making sure that everybody felt comfortable and had proper spacing was key to their planning. They were fortunate to already have a good-sized patio and worked with the Town of The Blue Mountains to help get patio extension approvals so they could create more physically distanced outdoor seating. During the summer when restrictions were relaxed and it was safe to travel, they took a chance and introduced a table service model. It paid off. That one change not only made them more flexible and increased sales, but feedback from guests was so positive that once it is safe to reopen they have decided to permanently incorporate that model into how they serve clients well into the future. “The guests get better service, people are less stressed. Clearly table service is what people want,” says Hammond.
For now though, Thornbury Craft is heeding the provincial Stay-At-Home order by offering contact free curb side pick-up made easy with a new outdoor pick up station, and of course their online store is always open with delivery options. Derek says he’s most looking forward to their building being able to open safely again and the completion of their brewery expansion project. Moving the brewery on site from Nobleton will make operations more efficient and allow for more time to focus on expanding their beer line with new fun special brews on tap and one-off brews. Thornbury Craft is already known for their tasty cider creations, with experiments leading to award winning craft ciders and commemorative lines such as Road Apples Craft Cider, a dry cider collaboration with The Tragically Hip to celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary.
“I’m excited to get the new building up and running and hopefully someday soon we can have people come inside and sit down. It’s going to look fantastic and I can’t wait to be able to welcome back the community and visitors for tours when it’s safe.”
We also can’t wait for the opening party when that time comes!
