A seal for independent brewers urgently needed
The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) has developed an independence seal, which it plans to launch in early 2018. This seal, available exclusively to IBA’s 200 or so members, will enable consumers to readily identify beers produced by independent brewers, as opposed to larger corporate-produced beers.
The move reflects what has already happened in the UK and USA, where seals of independence are available.
A committee, which was established at the Australian Craft Brewers Conference in Adelaide last July, has been working on creating a suite of brand assets for the seal, along with the associated licensing agreement.
Let’s hope the seal does not come too late. There is already anxiety brewing among some remaining independents that they could face a backlash following the sale of four of Australia’s largest craft brewers – 4 Pines, Vale, Feral and Pirate Life – to corporations like AB-InBev and Coca-Cola Amatil. They were sold in quick succession from September 2017.
Commentators wonder if the sale of Adelaide’s craft brewer Pirate Life to AB-InBev could have been ‘Australia’s Wicked Weed moment’. When North Carolina’s Wicked Weed brewery went to AB-InBev in May last year, it immediately fell foul of many consumers and industry members who felt betrayed.
In Australia it is now feared that the remaining independents (about 420) will face some cynicism and suspicion among consumers about the real motives of all independent breweries.
Jamie Cook, the co-founder of craft brewer Stone & Wood, told media in December 2017: “People build these businesses based on trust between them and their loyal customers and drinkers. When a transaction like this happens, we know the brewery and the brand will pay the price, but so does the whole industry really. There’s a loss of trust between drinkers wanting to engage with small independent businesses on the basis that’s who they are and that’s who they represent.”
Mr Cook does not subscribe to the view that breweries who choose to sell out “don’t owe anyone anything”.
He added: “I think a business owes a lot to customers and drinkers who have parted with their hard earned to buy their beer. Without them, these guys wouldn’t have the luxury of selling their businesses for good money.”
