Wayward Brewing Co in voluntary administration and more ‘indies’ likely to follow

The ‘perfect storm’ of sinking demand and rising costs has forced a Sydney craft brewery into voluntary administration.

The director of an award-winning Sydney craft brewery and taproom has been forced to call in an administrator thanks to the “perfect storm” of inflation and dwindling demand which has triggered a series of failures among independent breweries.

Wayward Brewing Company in inner city Camperdown, and its distribution arm The Local Drinks Collective have (LDC), have gone into voluntary administration through DBA Reconstruction & Advisory which will seek to restructure the business.

Wayward was launched in 2012 by Peter Philip, who built the brewery and accompanying venue in 2015, and will continue to operate during administration, as will LDC.

LDC was formed in 2022 by Wayward Brewing Co and Batch Brewing Co. Batch is not involved the voluntary administration process and continues to operate as normal.

A former chairman of the independent Brewers Association, Mr Philip said the last few years had been challenging for the industry and the expected Covid-19 rebound had not materialised.

“It has a lot to do with consumer confidence and inflation which affects people’s ability to spend money,” he said.

“Everybody is paying a couple of thousand more on their mortgages every month and they have to save money somewhere.

“Unfortunately people are drinking cheaper beer and they’re drinking foreign-owned bear, with 85 per cent of our beer market controlled by two Japanese multinationals (Kirin and Asahi).

“They have the ability to flex their muscles with lower production costs and economies of scale, while our costs are 25 to 30 per cent more than they were a year ago.

“It’s a perfect storm affecting smaller independent brewers and unfortunately consumers are not supporting us to the extent that we need.”

Wayward Brewing Company director Peter Philip.

The once boom sector last year experienced a number of independent craft brewers going under.

Well-known names like Brisbane’s Ballistic Beer Co and Parched Brewery, Victoria’s Bad Shepherd Brewing and Dainton Beer, Running With Thieves in Western Australia and Sydney-based Tribe Brewing called in administrators. Some have found new owners and investors.

Mr Philip said he was confident that a deed of company arrangement proposal to creditors would provide a framework for the restructuring of Wayward Brewing.

Graphic from Wayward Brewing showing consumers how much tax is paid on their beer.

“For us it’s business as usual and we’re looking to trade out of this and come out stronger,” he said.

Mr Philip said that as well as the fall in demand and higher production costs, independent craft brewers were hit by taxes which added up to a third to the shelf cost of their product – and unlike the beer giants, it could not be absorbed.

“We won’t be the last. These economic conditions are affecting everybody but in this industry it is the independent craft brewers who are impacted the most,” he said.