Is your craft beer actually 'craft'? What the big brewers don't want you to know
DON'T be fooled by the folksy illustrations, chances are your craft beer is really owned by a giant corporation. Here's the truth about who owns what.
IS YOUR craft beer as 'craft' as you think?
You may think you're drinking a trendy one-of-a-kind beverage from a little-known microbrewery run by a family of vegan hippies in the NSW hinterland. But chances are you're downing a beer owned and cleverly marketed to you by one of the two colossal beer companies in Australia - the British/South African-owned SABMiller or the Japanese-controlled Lion.
As consumers set to distinguish themselves by favouring brands with funky names like Fat Yak or Little Creatures rather than the old school Tooheys, VB or Carlton Draught, they might also think they're supporting a local brewer.
For the record, Fat Yak and Redback is part of Matilda Bay Brewing Company which bills itself as 'Australia's Original Craft Brewery' but was sold to Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) in the early 1990s. CUB was acquired by SABMiller in 2011.
Little Creatures is owned by Lion, which also counts mass-appeal beers XXXX Gold and Tooheys among its stable. Lion also owns James Squire and White Rabbit while Alehouse Summer Gold belongs to Coca-Cola Amatil.
The major supermarkets are also in on the sneaky marketing with Coles' Steamrail Ale and Woolworths' Sail and Anchor.
Australian Brews News managing editor Matt Kirkegaard said there is a consumer perception that anything that is craft is handmade by a small brewer. Kirkegaard argued big brewers can make fantastic beers but, sometimes, for the consumer, it's not just about the taste.
Co-founder and general manager of craft brewery 4 Pines Brewing Company, Jaron Mitchell, said 95% of the time consumers accept the story beer companies feed them.
"With the amount of noise of out there, there are very few diehard consumers who make a point of doing their own research into the exact origins of craft-beer brands," he said. "In saying this, there is definitely an implied sense of the beer being 'local' if a beer is 'craft'."
Mitchell argued the heritage of craft brewers is something the big guys are trying to trade off. "People love local - made and owned. They love small batch, they love being able to meet the artisan and have a real relationship with the brewery. They love the idea of handcrafted products," he said.
"There are some great beers coming out of the stables [of the big brewers] that definitely satisfy the style-discovery and taste-discovery journey of consumers' love for craft beer. But the full scope of the heritage [component] is not entirely covered off by the big brewers.
"They aren't locally owned. They aren't small batch. It's tough for them to engage consumers to have a real relationship with their breweries."
Kirkegaard called for clearer labelling practices on beer bottles which reflect the ownership of beers so consumers can make an informed choice.
He said: "It's increasingly hard for consumers to find out the true provenance of their beers. The big brewers love to say that what matters is how the beers taste, but they still often go to great lengths to hide their involvement and who is behind the beer. It really undermines their argument that consumers don't care."
Kirkegaard gave the example of Byron Bay Brewing Company, whose beer bottle for its Pale Lager features a map of the brewer's location in Byron Bay and a pledge its beer is brewed by itself and its licensee in NSW. Its licensee is Carlton & United Breweries and the beer is brewed in its Newcastle mega-brewery.
Kirkegaard added: "The largest breweries have all of the advantages in terms of scale, cost, distribution and marketing and now they want to also take the advantages of being seen as being small and boutique, which is really the only advantage that the small breweries have over them."
Mitchell added there are no laws or industry codes to compel the big brewers to be more transparent.
"Where SABMiller and Lion can't compete with Australian owned 'craft brewers', there is no logical reason for them to tell consumers about it. Disclosing this information would only weaken their market strength and consumer perception."
Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said in a statement: "There's big money to be made in craft beer with the demand for a premium taste. Consumers are happy to pay for this. It's up to consumers to decide what is important to them when it comes to drinking craft beer. If it's a premium taste from a large brewery, that's okay. If it's integral you're supporting an Australian-owned microbrewery, find out who owns the brand you're drinking."
The Australian Craft Beer Industry Association estimates the industry to be 2.5 to three per cent, by volume, of the total local beer market.
Mitchell said there are at least double the amount of craft breweries now than five years ago and there is increasing sophistication to people's understanding of craft beer.
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