Tariffs, whether in effect or not, are having a big impact on small businesses here on the Gulf Coast. I checked with breweries in our community as they plan to keep pouring, no matter what the tariffs do to our economy.
In a Port Charlotte storefront, Nicolas York is on a mission to serve craft beer. “We are, focused on building bonds and brotherhood through craft beer,” York said. “I've had lots of tearful conversations already.” York also listens to his neighbors at his business called Charlie Foxtrot Brewing .
“Veterans come in and tell me stories about their war time,” York added. Some veterans who visit are coping with post traumatic stress. It’s something York is all too familiar with. He’s a U.S. Army Veteran himself.
“As our mission statement says, building the bonds and brotherhood through craft beer. That comes down to the, my time in, in Germany, where I was able to work through PTSD issues over trying different craft beer, craft beers.” Charlie Foxtrot has been open about a year now, but that craft beer comes with a cost. It’s a cost that could go up or down, depending on tariffs on imports. “As a veteran owned company, I already try to source as much American made product as I can,” York said.
It’s a dilemma brewers across the nation are facing.
“For us, it's just about keeping an eye on what the pricing is doing and adjusting what we're doing in the business,” explained Kyle Cebull. He is founder and CEO of Millennial Brewing Company in Fort Myers. They’ve been in business eight years.
“We were planning on an expansion this year,” Cebull said. “And we're just sort of backing off on that to sort of evaluate what we think is going to happen.”
Potential tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico are making budget planning hard for brewers. Those raw materials make up kegs and tanks inside brewing facilities and cans for the drinks customers enjoy.
We asked Florida Gulf Coast University Associate Professor of Economics , Dr. Victor V. Claar, if stockpiling materials needed for business can help offset those costs.
“The problem for a lot of businesses, mom and pops and most brick-and-mortar retailers, is that they don't have extremely deep pockets to be able to spend a lot of money today on stockpiling those inputs,” Dr. Claar explained.
That situation is leaving brewers like Cebull to take it one day at a time with the customer in mind. “(We’re) always trying to keep our pricing in an acceptable range or range that people can feel good about coming out and supporting us, but also not breaking the bank.”
Meanwhile, York works to further his mission despite any price fluctuations at Charlie Foxtrot. “I feel like the goal is to reduce the prices down the road, so we just have to plan accordingly to that.”
The businesses we visited are a tiny part of the story. I checked the 2024 Brewers Association report to get a better idea of the industry’s health.
Their report showed craft brewers produced 23.1 million barrels of beer in 2024. That’s a four percent decrease from 2023. Despite the drop, employment in the craft brewing sector grew to 197,112 in 2024. That’s a three percent increase over the previous year.
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