We get it. Really. We have Amazon accounts too. I know, I know, we rail against big box stores and the preference to go local all the time. But the prospect of having your toilet paper delivered to your house every month on the same day is... appealing. Your other primary option is to go to some other big box store that, frankly, isn't all that different from Amazon.

But not everything has to be that way.

The pandemic has done many horrible things. It has also provided insight to the way we had been living. From hospitality workers starting to see higher wages for their hard work to office folks beginning to experience more flexible work environments, many good things can come from this if we only look inward.

One of those things that we hope to see is more folks buying local products. Since you've read this far, you're probably already someone who is interested in that. Local products, sitting in local stores, aren't waiting out on a container ship by a port for someone to unload them. Local products aren't experiencing nearly the shortages that major international brands are. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we do our best to buy locally ourselves! Instead of trying to get grain shipped in from Europe, we buy it from a family-owned farm in Marysville. Instead of buying direct from factories in China to save a buck, we buy our bottles from a small distributor in Cleveland. Our labels come from a small printing company in Lancaster. 

The point is, local companies tend to buy locally themselves.

Not only does this mean that we have a nice, steady supply of rum and whiskey, but it means most of what we spend gets put right back into the local economy, where it pays wages of workers who then go and spend it locally themselves. All of this creates a powerful cycle and enriches the lives of people living right here in central Ohio. The Bacardi CEO doesn't need another yacht.

So when you're on the hunt for something, skip the big box stores. Skip the big national and international brands. Buy something that was made here by people who live and work in your community. And never forget to Know Your Distiller.