Brewers aren’t quite crying into their beer, but they are worried about President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on all aluminum imports.
The 25% increase in global steel and aluminum imports slated to start in March would be “devastating,” according to one local craft brewer.
Thor Cheston, cofounder of D.C.-based Right Proper Brewing Company, told WTOP that “about 60% of all beer that we sell is in aluminum cans.” A 25% increase in the cost of that packaging, according to Cheston, would be “unsustainable.”
“Our margins are very, very, very thin,” he said. Referring to D.C. as “our beloved city,” Cheston pointed out that “the occupancy costs that come with doing business in Washington, D.C., are very, very high.”
While Right Proper Brewing Company shares shelf space in chains like Giant Foods, Wegmans and Whole Foods, there’s a lot of competition to get and stay on those retail shelves. Larger brewing operations might be able to absorb the cost of a 25% jump in packaging prices, said Cheston.
Aside from Canadian aluminum, Cheston said that “we also buy 260,000 pounds of grain” for the beers that they brew and that comes from Canada.
Despite the potential headwinds that his brand faces, Cheston said, his team will continue to plug away at making beers they love in a city they love.
“We’re going to do the best that we can with the resources that we have today. We’re not going to live and sit in the wreckage of the future,” he said.
Perhaps in that spirit, Right Proper’s latest beer is called “Big Tomorrow.”
Cheston explained his team considered a number of names but landed on “Big Tomorrow” because, he said, it married two ideas, uniting and “a sense of hope for a better tomorrow.”
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