Buy Local - Drink Local

Mike Laba, the promotions and marketing brainchild of Cameron's Brewing Co., recently read an article about the declining sales figures associated with the large multi-nationals breweries, and it got him thinking about the 'buy local' philosophy.

I am a big advocate for buying local. I'm not perfect, but I try my best to buy my meat from a local butcher, beer from a local brewer, coffee (sometimes) from a small locally owned cafe, and books from small retailers. Beer especially, and as an individual (Laba) who works in the craft brewing industry, this article seemed to have sparked some emotion.

I read this article this morning “Beer Sales Fall with Worldwide Economic Slump” and had to write about it.

His response to the article provided an interesting read. It's both encouraging and inspiring, and something I thought that readers of this blog would appreciate reading.

Here's a snippet of the post. To read the rest, head over to Cameron's Blog and enjoy.

I read this article this morning “Beer Sales Fall with Worldwide Economic Slump” and had to write about it. Blanket stories like this continue to paint a bleak economic picture, but for us - The Ontario Brewing Industry - this is an opportunity to communicate an effective message and now (more than ever), people are willing to listen. The difference is, we are finally starting to hear it back, which is very, very encouraging.

Perhaps one of the few upside’s to this economic meltdown will be the shift in people’s conscious when shopping and purchasing. Perhaps people are really starting to see the difference that buying local can make. I can visit a big box store and pick up a few things at once where my money will inevitably end up flowing out of the country…or…I can stop at those three or four local, independently run shops that I pass everyday and interact with the owner, get a better product and feel better knowing that my money will most likely stay within not just the country, but the community.

Although this shopping conscious may be off to a slow start, we are seeing it starting to gain traction. Because we are a small operation, we interact with every customer that walks through our door and we are seeing many new faces these days. Comments are starting to sound more familiar from these new faces. We are hearing things like,

"Support your locals"