Beer Shortage A Side Effect Of Freighters Waiting On Port Labor Dispute
PORT OF OAKLAND (KCBS) -- Getting San Francisco's famous Anchor Steam beer to overseas markets is getting harder, and Europeans who prefer the hoppy Northern California ales may find the West Coast ports labor dispute literally sobering.
Anchor Brewing's president John Dannerbeck tells CBS News, "The pipeline for our beer is going to dry up if we can't get the beer to Europe."
He added that this labor dispute could lead to a bigger shift in how he gets his products to market, saying, "We have to find an alternative. The question is--is that a permanent alternative to the West Coast port?"
Dannerbeck joined other local business leaders in meetings with President Obama's Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker in advance of Friday's Cybersecurity summit at Stanford University.
Pritzker is concerned the on-going West Coast port shutdown could cost the economy billions of dollars in lost trade, from craft beer to
She told the San Francisco Chronicle it could cost $2.2 billion per day. That's not per year, but per day, if a full strike and lockdown were to occur.
The Bay Area and all 29 West Coast ports are in the midst of four days of partial shutdowns, curtailing loading and unloading, and forcing more freighters to drop anchor outside the port, waiting for their turn to trade cargo containers.
Many have been completely closed to cargo as the dockworkers' union negotiates.
