Learning Lounge: How Coffee Fortified Death of the Fox’s AM/PM Business

When Death of the Fox Brewing Company opened eight years ago, co-founder Chuck Garrity wanted to make sure its Clarksboro, New Jersey-based taproom stayed busy day and night.    So to “maximize” Death of the Fox’s taproom investment and utility, the company launched by also offering coffee service, Garrity shared during the first edition of the Brewbound Podcast’s Learning Lounge: Taproom Tactics series.    Offering coffee was part of a total beverage mindset that covered an overlap between beer drinkers and coffee connoisseurs, while adding a revenue stream in one of the strictest operating environments for craft brewery taprooms.    “My goal was to always have an on-site coffee roastery,” Garrity explained. “So to be able to produce and roast the coffee in the same way that we produce fresh beer for the brewery. In the same respect, we’re doing that with the coffee. To me it just made sense in terms of a business model.”   Building an on-site roastery during the COVID-19 pandemic was “a game changer” for the business due to taproom shutdowns. It’s now become the dominant portion of the brewery’s business.   “When we first opened, beer was about 75%, 80% of our sales,” he said. “Now, flash forward eight years later, coffee, in terms of the total company, is about 70% of our sales. Beer is about 20% to 25%.”   Garrity added that the brewery’s beer sales are still strong, and he’s confident that “beer’s not going anywhere.” But his philosophy is to “follow where the river takes you, don’t fight against the current,” and Death of the Fox’s customers were telling him that while they liked the combination of beer and coffee, they really loved the coffee.   Listen for more from Garrity on Death of the Fox’s mix, growing the coffee side of the business amid strict restrictions on beer and advice for adding an attractive coffee menu.    Before this week’s featured interview, Jess, Zoe and Justin break down what Barrel One Collective’s acquisition of Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company brings to the platform. And the trio play Another Round or Tabbing Out on 1990s nostalgia seeping into CPG, with more waterbed and Jelly shoes talk than you’d expect.