The coronavirus recession has left no industry unaffected, but the one-two punch of shuttered bars and mass unemployment has hit craft distilling particularly hard, the New York Times reported. In a survey of its members by the American Craft Spirits Association, more than two-thirds say they may have to close permanently in the next few months. The crisis isn’t just threatening to decimate the industry; it is also reshaping its future. “There’s going to be a lot of dead distilleries coming out of this,” said Paul Hletko, the founder and distiller of FEW Spirits, in Evanston, Ill. “Even if you survive, the new normal is going to be punishing for small brands.” For many distillers in the United States, 2020 was supposed to be a banner year. The craft-spirits boom was entering its second decade, and the number of distilleries had grown to more than 2,000. The sector employed about 25,000 people directly and supported 100,000 more jobs, according to an analysis by the American Craft Spirits Association. Sales grew by 27 percent, to $4.8 billion, in 2018, the most recent data available.
