Local breweries get a helping hand with new service

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — As more local breweries pop up in Wilmington, how do they get their products to sell?

“A lot of small breweries don’t go to distributors. They don’t have the luxury of sales forces and all the things that a distributor can provide. They do it themselves,” Robert Ray, business development director, said.

The local restaurant owner got his friends together and now operate the service “Brewfully.”

The service allows restaurants and bars, after a review process, to use the website and purchase supplies from a variety of local breweries. Ray says this is the next big step for local brewery business.

“This is going to make the whole community come together. Like I said, the breweries love it cause it’s a tool for them to offer their clients and the bars and restaurants love it cause, again, it just saves time for all of us,” Ray said.

Ray says it took some time to fine tune the website. Their next plan is to launch the website as a mobile app.

“We’re working on the mobile functionality,” Ray said.

Rob Brink is the head designer and wants to make a site that was easy to use.

“We kind of sat down and figured out what were all the features they need. We made it so its easy to use and fitted just for them,” Brink said.

Brink says this is uncharted territory and wants to see how the community will benefit.

“We’re basically creating something that hasn’t really been done before in the industry and it’s just great to see it from start to finish and we’re continuing to grow with it and we’re just looking forward to see where it can go,” Brink said.

Ray says that the website also allows consumers to pre-order new and limited release beers from their favorite local breweries. If you’d like to take a look, go to Brewfully.com