POMPEY — Heritage Hill Brewhouse & Kitchen operates on the grounds of Palladino Farms and had to make plenty of adjustments to its business operations to deal with coronavirus pandemic. Dan Palladino, who owns the brewhouse, says that at the start of the pandemic in 2020, he received guidance from New York State that he’d […]
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POMPEY — Heritage Hill Brewhouse & Kitchen operates on the grounds of Palladino Farms and had to make plenty of adjustments to its business operations to deal with coronavirus pandemic.
Dan Palladino, who owns the brewhouse, says that at the start of the pandemic in 2020, he received guidance from New York State that he’d have to shut the brewery down.
“We knew that we had to make a fundamental change to the business,” Palladino tells CNYBJ in a Dec. 16 phone interview.
Heritage Hill Brewhouse, which opened in October 2018, is located in the middle of Palladino Farms but operates as a separate entity, Palladino notes. Palladino, his brother, Nicholas Palladino, Jr., and their mother are all partners in the operation of Palladino Farms.
Over the course of a weekend in the spring of 2020, Palladino and his management team decided they would start a grocery and food-delivery service through the brewhouse, including items like toilet paper, paper towels, and meat. So he rented a delivery van and began offering the service. He eventually bought a delivery van after the service received a positive public response.
As 2020 worked its way toward the summer months, Palladino joined those who were lobbying to allow outside service for patrons.
Palladino, who earned his MBA degree from the University of Rochester, decided to invest in the farm and turn his cow barn into an event barn.
“Even if we can’t have events, I can utilize it as seating space. I’m going to build patios that are open on one end, so they can function as open-air space, so I can still have open-air seating,” he explains.
The efforts at Heritage Hill Farms during the summer of 2020 were all targeted at helping it to continue to provide service and generate revenue.
“It allowed us to stay at full capacity in terms of numbers from the year before because I added all that additional seating that we didn’t have before,” he says.
Palladino also discovered new opportunities for generating revenue, including renting the available spaces for events.
When asked about goals for 2022, Palladino notes that Empire Farm Days returned to Pompey in 2021 after more than 35 years. The event is described as the “largest outdoor agricultural trade show in the Northeastern U.S.,” per its website.
“Next year really is refining that … and making it the show of agriculture that fits everybody,” says Palladino, noting that the event was part of his childhood.
He also says he’s in talks with the New York State Brewers Association to do “something super cool next year” but he isn’t ready yet to announce details. Palladino also wants to pursue some new event opportunities and a focus on a controlled, broader distribution of its brew products.
As for any projects for the farm or the brewhouse, Palladino says he’s working on three projects for which he couldn’t provide many details.
“Two significant distribution or placement initiatives with our product and one significant site-development [effort] where we’ll be onsite someplace unique and really cool,” he says of the three initiatives.