Success in the face of adversity is something the owners of Red Barn Brewing in Blenheim know all about.
The business has been named a finalist for Ontario Tourism Resiliency Awards in the categories of collaboration and innovation.
Co-owner Denny Vervaet says they’ve been nominated in both the innovation and collaboration categories.
“In COVID, we had to be innovative, we had to collaborate with a lot of different businesses and suppliers,” Vervaet says. “Farm Fest was the big peak for us when were able to invite local breweries such as Sons of Kent and Bayside, who are the pioneers of craft beer in Chatham-Kent.”
The Farm Fest event grew into Brew Fest, which Vervaet hopes will become an annual event.
Vervaet says having opened their business at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, they know resilience well.
“We’ve been open for two years, but really we’ve only been open in regular non-COVID times for about a year,” he explains. “We had to, I hate to say the word, but pivot every week. But we had to, we had to create a new beer, we had to bring new customers in. It wasn’t fun, but it also taught us a lot about how to run a business.”
TJ Stables won the 2021 Tourism Resiliency Award for Indigenous Tourism for its Spirit Horse Encounter.
This year’s winners will be announced in a ceremony on Wednesday.
