SPECIALTY BEVERAGES
Keeping spirits high: brewing in a niche market One craft brewery is opening every six days. What is it that attracts people to these endeavours and what are some of the issues the industry is facing? Mike Wheeler talks to stakeholders in this booming sector.
T
he 2019 Australian Craft Beer Survey results backed up what a lot of anecdotal evidence has shown over the past five years – Australian consumers like their craft beer. The survey showed that the attitude of 68 per cent of those surveyed towards the regular release of new/limited beers was ‘exciting and shows the creativity of breweries’, while only 5 per cent thought it ‘reduces the quality of beer’. Craft brewing has been around since beer was invented, however as a brand becomes more popular
and moves into the mainstream, it loses the moniker. In modern times, Western Australia’s Matilda Bay is considered the first in the renaissance of craft beer when it was launched in 1984. The average craft beer drinker is aged between 30 and 49, while unsurprisingly the Eastern states make up 86 per cent of all craft beer drinkers. It is a business that is not only flourishing but attracting new start-ups at a fast rate. Peter Philip is chairman of the Independent Brewing Association (IBA), and founder of the Wayward
James Squire is one of Lion's brands in the craft beer space. 22 Food&Beverage Industry News | March 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au
Brewing Co. The IBA has more than 500 members and is a fierce advocate of the industry, which is currently growing at the rate of one new brewery opening every six days. “The craft movement started because people were looking for something different,” he said. “I don’t particularly think that is a new trend. It has been a trend for the past 50 years that craft brewers tapped into and that is what created the whole craft industry. “It is a segment that is a major growth area and really resonates with rural and regional Australians.
They are bringing a whole new beverage to country towns. Country towns are thirsty places so people are really getting behind those small breweries.”
Acquisitions Some have been so successful, they have been bought by some of the bigger players. Carlton & United Breweries' (CUB) acquisitions over the past couple of years include 4 Pines, Pirate Life, the awardwinning, Mick Fanning-backed Balter and its initial purchase of the aforementioned Matilda Bay
