Do as I say, not as I do: buy local

I ordered a box of beer. Even before it arrived, mixed feelings starting creeping in.

As of recently, the Untappd platform includes a “shop”. Empowered, at least in part, by mega-yet-family company Swinkels, you can order selected beers right from the app and find them at your doorstep a day or so later. The introductory box, arrogantly but perhaps aptly named “The Best of the U.S”, would contain an impressive set of 18 cans, mostly large, for a very reasonable price. Many of those beers are not all that easy to obtain here in the Netherlands, so the scarcity and price point easily persuaded me to order. My scarily empty beer fridge may have been a decisive factor as well.

I fell for selling tactics. These beers can be obtained through other means. In fact, I had drunk two of the beers in the box in a bars within biking distance from my home. Should that surprise me? No. If Swinkels can get these beers to me now, they could have before, and Bier & cO (an importer company under the flag of Swinkels) was likely responsible for importing these beers already four years ago. Scarcity? Fake.

I should have ignored this advertisement. I should have bought local. Buying locally helps the local bottle shops to survive. They are the ones who make sure that interesting, high quality offering is found around the corner from my house. Another selection around the other corner. When everybody starts buying the same small box from the same (inter-)national importer, then all variety in the beer landscape will cease to exist. I should have reconsidered, and I should have taken my bike to my local bottle shop. And I will.

Buy local.

It’s the best for you, best for your local beer sellers, best for the economy and best for beer culture in general.