Troubled craft brewer rescued after new investors emerge

Independent brewer Ballistic Beer Co has been rescued from liquidation by a consortium of new investors who want to rebuild the brand and retain local jobs.

Award-winning independent craft beer brewer Ballistic Beer Company has been rescued from liquidation by a consortium of new investors.

The Brisbane-based brewer called in voluntary administrators in late January as it succumbed to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a product recall last year.

But late on Friday a white knight emerged with a group of new investors including Catchment Brewing and Canberra-based Lala Hospitality Group coming on board along with existing shareholders. Catchment will take a majority stake in the business with Matt Newberry, the chief executive of the West End brewery, assuming the group CEO role.

Ballistic founder David Kitchen will remain as a shareholder and strategic advisor to the board. Newberry said the aim of the investment, the size of which remains confidential, was to keep Queensland jobs and retain the Ballistic brand.

“In conjunction with the aggressive growth plans of Catchment, we believe Ballistic will add value to our portfolio and offer a truly independent Queensland craft beer company with a terrific suite of brands,” Mr Newberry said.

He said Ballistic’s presence in regional Queensland was a bonus. Ballistic Beer, which built its first brewery and venue in Salisbury in April 2017, has won multiple awards for its craft beers.

Catchment Brewing chief executive Matt Newberry said he hoped to keep local jobs.

The brewery made last year’s top 10 in the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer countdown and is part of craft accelerator Mighty Craft’s stable of independent breweries. In September last year Ballistic Beer Co recalled its Hawaiian Haze Pale Ale, Hawaiian Haze IPA and Reef Pale Ale because of secondary fermentation which can cause illness.

It has locations in Brisbane’s Salisbury and West End, Springfield near Ipswich, Bargara at Bundaberg and at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays.

The company currently has 85 staff.

Mr Kitchen said he was confident that with the capital injections from new partners including LaLa Hospitality Group, Ballistic would remain a large and relevant brand in the craft beer industry. LaLaGroup operates award-winning Canberra venues including The Highball Express, Amici Wine Bar & Deli, Bleachers Sports Bar and 88mph.

Ballistic said it was working hard to retain as many jobs as possible with the support of suppliers and new investors. Ballistic said it was thankful for the strong community backing and support for the development and distribution of the company’s products, which had allowed it to achieve significant state and national growth over the past five years.

It has been a tough period for the craft beer industry.

Last year Sunshine Coast-based Stalwart Brewing appointed liquidators after Covid-19 restrictions drove it to the wall.

Administrators were also appointed to Woolloongabba-based Easy Time Brewing Co, which opened at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Easy Time was able to successfully restructure and remain open.

More than 400,000 jobs were lost in the hospitality industry over 2020-2021, following $8.5 billion in lost sales. According to Alcohol Beverages Australia, this represented a third of the entire hospitality workforce. Beer volumes fell by 44 per cent with smaller producers, usually but not always, craft brewers, reporting volume losses of over 70 per cent.