ASHEVILLE - A lot can happen in a year, and 2019 felt particularly active.
In Asheville, the portfolio of good-to-excellent restaurants seemed to grow at a rapid rate, and not without a few growing pains. As is seemingly always the case, some notable restaurants closed too.
But behind the scenes, things were growing, simmering, ready to change the face of food, drink and agriculture in Western North Carolina in ways that may be imperceptible to some, but still send waves through a big and beloved business sector.
Read on to learn more.
New Belgium and other big brewery sales
This is one issue readers are aware of and invested in, according to our data. Stories about brewery sales made for two of the 10 most-read stories this year. In 2017, Wicked Weed's sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev stole its fair share of the traffic.
In 2019, it was New Belgium Brewing Co.'s almost-final sale to Lion Little World Beverages of Australia that made the biggest waves.
The potential sale was announced Nov. 19. Workers at the formerly employee-owned brewery voted on Dec. 17 to move forward with the transaction, making the nearly 30-year-old beer maker, which has locations in Colorado and in Asheville, part of Kirin International Holdings, a Japanese beverage giant.
That wasn't the only WNC sale this year: Bold Rock, the second-largest cider brand in the United States, in November signed a partnership to become part of Charlotte-based beer firm Artisanal Brewing Ventures.
And Craft Brew Alliance, which acquired Boone's Appalachian Mountain Brewery last year, is now slated to be fully owned by A-B InBev, which previously owned only a partial stake in the craft beverage group.
What gives? Local beer expert and author Anne Fitten Glenn said a lot of it comes down to competition.
"There are basically five large breweries in the world that sell more than 50% of the beer in the world, and they started realizing several years ago that craft beer was legitimate competition," she told the Citizen Times.
If you can't beat the competition, buy 'em. Unfortunately, this has the potential effect of driving up prices for consumers, while driving down the selection of real craft brews available through many mainstream retail sources.
WNC brewery sales: Notable Western North Carolina brewery sales to A-B InBev and other big companies
Opinion: New Belgium: Don’t taint your beer with Burma blood money
Backstory: New Belgium Brewing to be acquired by Australian beverage giant Lion for undisclosed sum
Addiction and the restaurant industry
While it's nothing new that the restaurant industry is one where employees often party late into the night, the sheer complexity of the problem is starting to be addressed in what's been a huge step for workers and employers alike.
Self-reported survey data gathered from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found only miners and construction workers drink harder then restaurant workers. And about a quarter of restaurant workers reported regularly using illicit drugs including heroin, far and away the highest rate of any major industry.
People with the power to do something are finally acknowledging the issue, whereas over-drinking and drug use was once just shrugged off as part of the pirate ship mentality that pervades professional restaurant kitchens.
To that end, restaurant veterans Mickey Bakst and Steve Palmer in 2016 founded Ben's Friends, a support group for restaurant and bar professionals who want to get clean and stay sober. On July 23, Asheville hosted the first meeting of its own chapter, with the Asheville Independent Restaurant association leading the charge to start a local arm.
It couldn't come a moment too soon: A recently released DEA database showed 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pain pills were unleashed on the nation from 2006-12.
"Those pills are getting down to our industry in massive amounts," Bakst told the Citizen Times. "We are seeing in Ben's Friends, from people who are coming in, it's not just alcohol anymore; it's opioids. We are seeing people from all walks of life. It doesn't matter race, creed, religion or economics."
Bakst and the others who believe in Ben's Friends hope compassion and a safe space for restaurant workers can help assuage the issue.
More: 'I was going to die': Ben's Friends helps restaurant workers overcome perils of addiction
Restaurant staffing woes
Restaurants across the country have struggled to keep their staffs intact, and many local restaurant owners and chefs who announced closures this year said recruiting and retaining employees was a factor in their decision to get out of the business.
According to data from the National Restaurant Association, the likely apex of the issue came between September 2018 and January 2019, when the number of job openings in the hospitality industry surpassed the number of hires for the first time on record.
Then, an average of 693,000 employees per month quit their jobs in the hospitality sector during the second quarter of 2019, representing the highest quarterly level on record. The quit rate is on pace to reach its highest level since 2006.
Why the struggle? In Asheville, what's considered the living wage keeps rising along with the cost of living, but not every restaurant pays a living wage. In the fast food industry, where turnover can be as high as an astounding 150%, CNBC reports, the problem is even worse. A multitude of factors are at play, including the rise of the gig economy and a reluctance to make the food industry into a career.
But the good news is that some restaurant owners are working to change the perception of the restaurant industry as temporary employment, offering perks like 401Ks, dental and health insurance plans and even credits toward non-slip work shoes.
Booming CBD demand led to 900% increase in hemp growing permits
Before the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act swept hemp away in prohibition, American farmers grew hemp for fiber, animal feed and more, with George Washington one of the plant's more famous cultivators. Now, hemp is legal to grow again and is booming in the state, and the national appetite for hemp and hemp-derived products keeps growing.
Some of hemp's growth is likely influenced by the booming demand for CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid proponents say is useful for everything from arthritic pain to anxiety in humans and in pets. The Brightfield Group says the hemp-CBD market could hit $20 billion in 2020.
By mid-2019, 3,000 permits had been issued for hemp growers in North Carolina, a 900% increase in less than a year.
But there's some trouble on the horizon.
The Federal Drug Administration is cracking down on companies marketing CBD products as dietary supplements or adding CBD to human or animal food and drink. Meanwhile, state lawmakers are working to ban smokable hemp flower. Also this year, the USDA established its U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program to oversee the production of hemp, which has some growers concerned.
"There is likely to be volatility based on the changing legal landscape for the next three years, at a minimum," the North Carolina State Extension warned growers on its website. "Please keep this in mind when making any decisions about starting or continuing to produce hemp, or investing in other parts of the supply chain."
More: Women leading way as hemp revival sweeps Western North Carolina
Big changes to North Carolina liquor laws
On Sept. 1, North Carolina's ABC Regulatory Reform Act kicked into effect, bringing with it changes including the right to sip mixed drinks at distilleries, where customers can now buy unlimited bottles of liquor.
With the new laws, breweries can also now serve beer, wine or cider in dry counties, but only what they make themselves. In the officially dry town of Old Fort, the changes will become apparent in 2020, when Hillman Beer opens a second location of its Asheville-based brewery.
The alcohol reform laws also allow the sale of liquor in bars without requiring food service sales or a private club membership.
While beer- and wine-buying customers are already thrilled with the new regulations allowing customers to buy more than one drink at the bar (though some alcohol servers have yet to catch onto this tweak), other regulations are a boon for WNC's ever-growing distillery business.
Now, distillery tasting rooms can sell mixed drinks, which enables customers to try before they buy — what a concept. The bill also allows distilleries to serve up to four quarter-ounce samples per person per day at ABC stores where the local board has given the thumbs up. Mark Combs, the general manager of Asheville's ABC Board, has been pushing for such changes for years.
"I don't want to sell more liquor, I want to sell better liquor," he told the Citizen Times. "It makes the city and the county richer without causing drunkenness."
Local ABC sales grossed about $38.5 million last fiscal year, with $3.5 million distributed between the city of Asheville and Buncombe County, per a 1947 agreement that mandates the county gets a quarter of that liquor pie, which goes into a general fund.
More: Looser liquor laws let you buy more than 1 beer, even in dry counties
More: Why does North Carolina sell liquor like it does?
Mackensy Lunsford is a former line cook and restaurateur who's been covering Asheville food, restaurants and agriculture since 2005. You can reach her at mlunsford@citizentimes.com.
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