Sun King Debuts New Airport Tap Room
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based Sun King Brewing Co. has opened its newest tap room inside Indianapolis International Airport. The 1,000-square-foot location is part of the airport’s ongoing Concessions Refresh initiative, which launched in 2016 in an effort to bring more local fare to the airport. Sun King co-founder Clay Robinson says being at the airport is a great opportunity to put the Sun King brand in front of millions of travelers every year.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Robinson said the opening of the tap room was delayed by several months due to the pandemic.
“The Sun King tap room at the Indianapolis airport was slated to open in mid-March, so our original opening date was actually right as the pandemic came down and put everything to a stop,” said Robinson. “Since that point in time, we’ve really just been in a holding pattern waiting for traffic at the airport to rebound to a level that made sense to actually open the tap room and begin operating.”
The tap room, located in Concourse B at the airport, is the first food and beverage vendor to open as part of the Concessions Refresh initiative. It features 16 taps of Sun King’s popular beers, as well as wine, featured cocktails, Sun King’s new hard seltzers, and food options.
Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, says Sun King’s reputation was part of the draw of bringing the brewery to the airport.
“If you look at Sun King, they have an incredibly high quality product. They have incredibly high quality of customer service and all of it aligns very well with us,” said Rodriguez. “They are incredibly good community partners and they’re in the community all over the place and they really want to make this community better just like we do.”
Rodriguez says the pandemic has slowed efforts to bring more vendors online through Concessions Refresh.
“There’s not that many passengers to support all of these concessions, but we’re bringing concessions on board as they become sustainable. And we know that Sun King is sustainable here.”
Rodriguez says the aviation industry worldwide continues to be affected by the pandemic and current forecasts are pointing toward a recovery between 2024 and 2026. He says until that time, new vendors at the Indy airport will come online slowly and only when there is confidence their businesses can be sustainable at the airport.
Robinson says the opening of the tap room was delayed by several months due to the pandemic.
Rodriguez says Sun King’s reputation was part of the draw of bringing the brewery to the airport.