If Things Stay the Way They Are, Craft Brewers Say Their Breweries Won’t Survive Three Months

As the COVID-19 outbreak in Oregon continues to impact the local restaurant market, stories are popping up across the city, from food cart owners giving away free meals to chefs starting Instagram cooking classes. In this new version of AM Intel, we dive into different ways the state’s food service industry has been responding to the global pandemic. For more COVID-19 stories, check out our larger story stream.

BREWERY SQUEEZE — Median sales for American craft beer sales have dropped 77 percent since the shutdown of bars and restaurants last month, according to a Brewers Association survey. The survey also asked “Given current costs, revenues, and the current level of state and federal aid, how long do you project you can sustain your current business if social distance measures stay where they are now?”; 46.4 percent of respondents said they could only last one to three months. [Oregonian]

FEEDING THE HOMELESS — As nonprofits lose resources and are forced to maintain social distancing measures, the city-county Joint Office of Homeless Services is now paying for meal donations for food insecure populations. Multnomah County will now pay $260,000 a month to Catholic Charities to provide 10,000 meals each week at the minimum, through kitchens and shelters like Blanchet House and the Clark Center. [Oregonian]

COMMUNITY CHAI — Although Pip’s has stopped serving its freshly-fried mini-doughnuts, the company is now bottling and selling its “Community Chai,” the cafe’s chai concentrate; the cafe donates ten percent of the proceeds to Portland restaurant industry members. For example, Jojo food truck, the cart giving away free meals, received a portion of proceeds. [KGW]