Agfest 2017: Graphic designers try their hand at marketing ginger beer

MARC and Carolyn Watson-Paul owe a lot to their graphic design business.

Barrels of fun: Marc Watson-Paul with son Henry, the inspiration for the brand’s name.

MARC and Carolyn Watson-Paul owe a lot to their graphic design business.

The Tasmanian couple created marketing materials and designs for food and beverage companies from their home in Penguin for many years, providing the inspiration for their venture, Henry’s Ginger Beer.

“Marc was going through his Mum’s old cooking scrapbooks and came across her old recipe for ginger beer,” Carolyn said.

“He gave it a go and it tasted really good. We offered some to one of the food and beverage guys who were picking up some design work we had done for him and he said to us, ‘You should market that’.”

So, five years ago, the couple did just that, and sold out batches at a couple of Tasmanian food and beverage shows.

So what is it about Marc and Carolyn’s ginger beer that stands out from the crowd?

“The recipe is really simple and it tastes like the ginger beer your grandmother made for you as a kid,” Carolyn said.

The couple, who named their beer after son Henry, have since moved to bigger premises at Burnie, where they brew the ginger beer that ends up in Tasmanian restaurants, supermarkets, and cellar doors.

The couple will be selling Henry’s Ginger Beer at Agfest.