‘Brand Hustle’: Melbourne husband and wife team supplying growlers to keep tap beer flowing
A husband and wife team are working overtime to ensure Melbourne’s struggling pubs and bars can keep the tap beer flowing during lockdown and keep your thirst quenched. Here’s how it’s happening.
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A husband and wife team has brought their heavyweight knowledge of Melbourne’s hospitality industry to give struggling pubs and bars a fighting chance of surviving lockdown.
Melissa and Heath Shirtcliffe – known collectively as ‘Brand Hustle’ – are working overtime to ensure hospitality venues are stocked with “growlers”.
In case you didn’t know, a growler is a 1.89 litre glass vessel – a smaller 945ml version is called a “squealer”- which has a resealable lid.
Growlers are the only way pubs can legally sell their stocks of tap beer during lockdown.
The idea is to keep people earning, keep the supplies moving and keep you refreshed with some semblance of normality.
Growlers have been around a few years but were mainly used by hardcore beer fans at craft beer pubs, breweries and bottle shops.
With takeaway alcohol, food and pretty much everything else being the only show in town during lockdown, the growler could become one of the sought-after accessories in Melbourne.
The customer walks into their local buys a growler then has it filled with their favourite tap beer and off they go.
If your local isn’t using growlers yet – and not all venues are – then ask them when they are getting on-board.
The Shirtcliffes “dropped almost everything” when the second lockdown hit to help their hospitality mates “hit hard by COVID”.
Heath, who has almost a decade running his own craft brewery, and Melissa, a Melbourne hospitality merchandise and branding guru, were told by their mates: “we need growlers”.
“We have always loved and lived in the raw and unique Melbourne hospitality scene,” Melissa said.
“Since launching we’ve had a huge boost in inquiries for quality glass growlers for an industry that is stuck with huge quantities and no ability to sell.”
Brand Hustle shipped a huge stock of growlers to their Bundoora warehouse just before the hard stage 4 lockdown hit.
Venues can get their own unique brand or logo stamped on the growler, and on a range of other products in high demand.
These include eco-friendly take away containers, hand sanitiser and even personalised masks – which are of course now mandatory in Victoria.
Brand Hustle has also expanded supply to interstate customers who aren’t in lockdown but want in on the growler craze.
Melissa said they took up the supply slack – the couple barely break-even – to give venues one less thing to worry about.
“Being a solution of sourcing and supply at this time hopefully takes the worry off proprietors so they can focus on the other important areas of their business,” she said.
All your growler needs can be found at brandhustle.com.au
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