Brewing up a plan and #doDifferent

Sometimes to #doDifferent means rethinking what you do when confronted with unique or unexpected challenges.

During South Africa's 2020 lockdown, we experienced a total ban on liquor manufacture and sales as part of the government response to Covid-19. This left many alcohol-related businesses with no means to operate. One such business is Woodstock Brewery in Cape Town – a stalwart of the South African craft beer scene.

When faced with the prospect of potentially months of inaction under lockdown regulations, and no clear return path to manufacture or sell their products, they had to really think outside the box. The approach was to look at what they did have - some of the biggest kettles in Cape Town. Big kettles can produce big batches of food, and finding a need was easy. South Africa has massive inequality and poverty, and some estimates suggest up to 14 million South Africans go hungry each day. This has likely been further exacerbated by Covid-19.

Woodstock Brewery joined forces with Great Commission United (GCU) Academy to produce and supply soup to hungry communities in the Cape Town metropolitan area. Using the giant brewing kettles from Woodstock Brewery, and volunteers from GCU Academy they were able to produce batches of soup to feed 7000 people each day. Sponsors came on board to supply raw ingredients and fund production and to date, they have supplied over 2 300 000 bowls of soup!

The example set by Woodstock was adopted by several other breweries, making a huge difference in easing Covid-19 related suffering as well as helping the breweries to survive their most challenging time.

We love that, when faced with an existential crisis, this business chose to help others, and by doing so saved themselves. A true example of how to #doDifferent.

This project is ongoing so check them out here and assist them to #doDifferent.


Images by: Woodstock Brewery