Brewers worried about Woolworths craft beer review

A zombie pub crawl. Spider-man star's non-alc beer brand launches. BrewDog reveals huge loss. Can one beer win the US election? Wellington's best outdoor drinking spots.

Craft breweries across New Zealand are worried one of their major sales channels is under threat after Woolworths (formerly Countdown) announced a massive overhaul of their beer offering.

I’ve spoken to several people over the past week who are concerned about the ruthless nature of the proposed changes, with Woolworths set to delete a wide range of products while demanding higher margins than many smaller breweries can achieve while remaining competitively priced.

Initially, the proposed changes were due to be implemented on October 28, but after pushback from some breweries, and with the support of the Brewers Guild of New Zealand, that has been delayed.

Even choosing October 28 — Labour Day holiday — as a date says a lot … Woolworths is an Australia-owned brand, and in Australia October 28 is not a public holiday — they had their Labour Day holiday earlier this month. One comment that came to me was that this minor point illustrates the disconnect with the wider New Zealand craft beer market.

More importantly many breweries were thrown into a panic as they had beer in tanks, ready to be packaged and delivered to Woolworths, and suddenly were told it had been “deleted” effective immediately.

The concern is such that the Brewers Guild of New Zealand was asked to help and did so by delivering a response on behalf of its members.

That appeared to have some impact, with Woolworths sending out an email saying they were delaying the implementation of the review.

Based on the feedback received we have made the decision to delay releasing the review given the amount of change proposed. This will mean that there will be minimal changes to current distribution for products that are not being deleted.

… We will regroup as a Woolworths team on the review’s next steps given a lot of work has been undertaken to achieve the review objectives. We will provide an update to you all when we have additional information.

One Woolworths’ proposal has some merit — a commitment to ensure all craft beer was chilled. But the flipside is that fridges are of limited size and therefore competition for that fridge space will intensify.

They also want a “provincial ranging for craft beer” which makes sense.

In terms of deleting products, it’s fair enough if something’s not selling, but there are concerns about the data Woolworths use to calculate what sells and what doesn’t. For example, one brewery noted they had a core range IPA that sold well but wasn’t in every Woolworths store. The beer was to be culled based on an algorithm that divided sales across every store, thus making it look like a bad performer.

It was also suggested what Woolworths (and previously Countdown) hadn’t exactly supported the craft beer segment, and therefore could bear some responsibility for what sells and what doesn’t.

I did ask Woolworths for an interview on this to get more information, and while their media department said someone would get back to me, that hadn’t happened in time for my 5pm deadline. Maybe next week.

I’ll preface all the following with the disclaimer that I am paid by New World as the chair of judges for the New World Beer & Cider Awards, and they are advertising supporters of Pursuit of Hoppiness.

In the supermarket space, Woolworths and Foodstuffs (New World, Pak’N Save, Four Square) differ in a number of key areas.

For example, there’s room to negotiate with individual stores in the Foodstuffs network and there are relationships inherent in that, whereas Woolworths is driven from a national office and there’s top-down relationship. It was described to me by one person as “robotic”.

Craft breweries can send their beer in bulk to a Foodstuffs distribution centre from where it’s sent out to individual stores. With Woolworths they have to ship directly to individual stores, which drives up the freight costs considerably.

Woolworths, until now, also worked on annual rotations, meaning it was harder to get new releases into those stores, whereas Foodstuffs is a lot more receptive to new releases.

The commentary around the supermarkets is that both the big players are demanding higher margins from craft brewers and that makes it increasingly tough for smaller, independent, breweries to get their beer on shelves at the right price.

With brewing costs going through the roof in the past two or three years, it’s been almost impossible for breweries to keep six-packs in the sweet spot of around $23, with many pushing having to go to $26-$27.

And, of course, with consumers feeling the pinch thanks to rising interest rates and higher costs of food over the past three years, craft beer sales have fallen as customers divert their hard-earned towards “mainstream craft” — Mac’s, Monteith’s and Boundary Road — all brands owned by multi-national breweries.

I know this weekly dispatch talks about the price of beer a fair bit, but it’s worth noting just how expensive it is to make good quality beer in small batches, especially when a big chunk of the up-front costs goes to the government in the form of excise tax.

But at this moment, it feels like we’re on the cusp of something significant.

There’s a chance that as interest rates continue to fall and the economy picks up (fingers crossed) people will have more discretionary income in their pockets, and some of that might flow back to craft beer. But there’s also the fear that the margins are now so low in the supermarket game that the Woolworths review, delayed but still coming, could be another nail in the coffin.

The long and short of it is this: if you currently buy beer from Woolworths you might well have a say in who survives when the current review is implemented.

And from that sombre note …

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Celebrate Halloween with a Zombie pub crawl

The streets of Auckland could look a little more scary than usual next week, with the Auckland Beer Mile set to be overrun by zombies.

The Beer Mile will temporarily become the Zombie Beer Mile — a costumed crawl through some of Auckland’s finest breweries and taprooms.

There will be Halloween-themed brews and food, spooky DJ sets, and spot prizes awarded to the best-dressed individuals and groups.

It’s on next Saturday, October 26 from noon until late and features the breweries and taprooms along the Auckland Beer Mile — Galbraith's Alehouse, Small Gods Taproom, Saint Leonards, Churly's, Brothers Juke Joint, Urbanaut & Garage Project Kingsland.

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Beer of the Week No 1

Mid-week easy-drinking goodness under 5% with loads of flavour? Who doesn’t want that! Up step McLeod’s with one of the best sub-5% beers on the market now in a 330ml six-pack.

Cove (4.8%) was formerly released in 440ml cans and was affectionately known as “802 junior” because it was unfiltered pale ale with rotating hops at a much lower ABV than the full-strength 802 releases.

But for a core range product, the hops have been locked in: Centennial and Eclipse which deliver sweet citrus — think mandarin and orange rather than lemon or grapefruit. Unfiltered, rather than hazy, it has lots of creaminess to the body, yet it finishes dry and with a refreshing bite of bitterness.

And while Cove moves to 330ml 6-packs, two core range 330ml McLeod’s offerings are moving into 440ml cans, with both Longboarder Lager and Paradise Pale Ale now available in that single can format.

Cove has just gone into select New World stores, so haul yourself down to your home of craft beer and grab a six-pack.

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Diversify or die the message at GABF

The Great American Beer Festival held last week in Denver featured plenty of discussion forums on the state of American beer, but the one that stood out for me was the call for diversity and, ah, crossdrinkers. And no, that’s not a typo.

Julia Herz, executive director of the American Homebrewers Association, said brewers needed to go beyond beer — citing Boston Beer, the brewer of Samuel Adams, that now makes most of its money from seltzer and alcoholic iced tea.

“Sam Adams and their diversification, it’s a good thing, it’s a positive thing, it’s an inspiring thing. You know why? Because we all are crossdrinkers. The majority of fermented beverage alcohol is enjoyed by people today, just like us, that admittedly drink not just one of the beverage categories.”

The event itself embraced this cross-ferment, featuring spirits-based cocktails, hard cider, hard kombucha and other “beyond beer” offerings poured alongside traditional beer.

Boston Beer founder Jim Koch said it was “almost shocking” to walk into the first night of GABF “and see the continued evolution” of the event.

Koch said: “I’ve been doing this for 40-some years, and to me, it felt fresh and interesting. And, what the hell, let’s try this.”

He added that beer, wine and spirits all shared a common problem: trying to sell products that have an “acquired taste” and that “people don’t naturally like”.

“Today, we as brewers can make lots of things. And if we're willing to stretch our brains and our equipment, we can make things that taste like anything we want them to taste.”

And if crossdrinking wasn’t enough of neologism, Koch suggested a new word to inspire the beer industry: “osmoplasticity.” The concept is that there is “a blue ocean where we as craft brewers can bring to bear our creativity [and] our values in terms of respect for the quality, the ingredients, respect for the culture of the maker and the passion of the maker.”

Koch said: “It's hard to come up with a new craft beer style, and if you do and it takes off, you'll have 1,000 people copy it within 12 months. But there is now another ocean.

“It makes me optimistic that we will find an outlet that pleases and thrills consumers for our creativity,” he continued. “It will be driven by the creativity of us as brewers, and our closeness to our customers through taprooms and how small we are, to find and address consumer needs that nobody’s found yet.”

Dogfish Head co-founder Sam Calagione added: “We as a community have to come together as activists with our alchemy, our love of art and science, to come up with what is going to re-engage, what’s going to incite, the 22-, 34-, 38-year-old person to come into the craft beer community. And it might not be with our craft beers.

“It’s basically taking the capabilities, the technical prowess, the understanding of international brewing ingredients that we as craft brewers really honed and perfected and shined an international spotlight on, and applying them to spaces that are adjacent to traditional craft.”

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Dusty’s Beer of the Week

Ahhhhh XPA … crisp light refined refreshing. WRONG! Well in this case at least, with the units at Abandoned Brewery and their take on the style — an 8.4% dub XPA that cleverly still drinks like a 5% beer. Citrusy pops of mandarin and orange with backup notes of overripe pineapple. A floral, juicy mouthfeel and a lil sweet malt backbone and sticky finish tie together a crusha of a brew. Reprehensible and loving it — hoppy Friday! — Dusty

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Spider-man star launches his own beer

What would a superhero call a beer they created? Bero, of course. Well, that’s the best explanation I can come up with for the name of a non-alcoholic beer launched by Spider-Man star Tom Holland. OK it rhymes with zero too … but I like my version of events!

The British actor has been sober for just over two years.

“There’s no secret that as a celebrity, you're constantly being offered these kinds of brand deals,” Holland told Forbes. “But I never found anything I felt particularly passionate about — until now.

“When I got sober, I started exploring the world of non-alcoholic beers and realized there was space for me to fit in.”

Holland went sober when he tried to do a Dry January.

“It’s a pretty generic story. I was drinking too much. I was the type of person that, when I'd have one beer, I couldn't just have one beer. I knew I'd had a bit of a problem for a while.”

After getting through one month, he aimed for February and March as well.

“I sort of said to myself, look, if I can do six months without drinking, I get to June 1, which is my birthday, and I would have proved to myself that I don't have a problem.”

Bero has three beers on the market a Pilsner, a Hazy IPA and a wheat beer.

Holland says the feedback has been excellent.

“Either everyone in my life is lying to me, or we’ve somehow bottled f**king liquid gold,” Holland quips.

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Beer of the Week No 2

Sawmill’s Aotearoa Series is up to #52 — the tally on these climbs faster than I can keep up! This one though is worth pausing on. Featuring NZ Hops Ltd’s trial hop NZH-109 this to me is the way I like my hazies. Lighter on the haze, making it nimble on the palate. Punchy grapefruit dominates the flavour, with some sweeter allies along for the ride as well as some spring onion savoury notes for a dank counterweight. Clean, bright and a great showcase for this hop.

And worth noting is that I double down on Dusty’s take from the other week on Sawmill’s Double IPA. Great beer. Get it if you see it.

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BrewDog losses deepen

BrewDog apologised for a four-month delay in releasing their financial results to shareholders — and no wonder, the results reveal losses doubled to £59m in final year under co-founder James Watt.

While revenues grew, from £321m to £355m, costs increased more rapidly and the company also had to write down the value of underperforming bars.

The result was that pre-tax losses jumped from £30m to £59.2m in the year to the end of 2023, potentially complicating BrewDog’s long-held ambition of floating on the stock market, the Guardian reported.

James Arrow, who took over as chief executive after the much-maligned Watt announced his departure in May, said: “A key aim is to return BrewDog towards profitability and we have taken significant steps towards that goal.”

He said the company had returned to profit on an underlying basis during the first half of 2024, helped by a 10% increase in sales in the grocery market.

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Tim’s Beer of the Week

If any brewer deserves to have their face on a bottle (sporting a crown no less) it’s probably Richard Emerson.  One of the founding fathers of our craft brewing nation, Richard has been in the business since 1992, and now he’s just turned 60.

Richard LX, a strong (7.9%), New Zealand whisky barrel-aged porter was brewed in celebration of that significant birthday.  A beer that both looks back towards the English-style roots of the earliest Emerson’s beers, and forward to the brewery’s continuing support of those now all but lost styles.

Huge roasted malt, vanilla and toasted coconut mingle with oak char in the aroma, while the rich, smooth palate offers a drying tannin and burned tobacco that offset the sweetness.  Considering the strength, it’s remarkably quick across the palate as it skips into its dry, bitter finish.

Here’s to (from my perspective anyway) another lifetime of Emerson’s beers. — Tim Newman

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A Wellington beer garden review

After the Herald had a story on New Zealand’s best bars with views, rival Stuff has stumped up with a story on Wellington best bars with outdoor spaces.

One to pocket away for your next trip to the capital.

Fancy a drink in the city? Bars with great outdoor spaces in Wellington | Stuff

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Beer of the Week No 3

I’d just finishing writing last week about Black Sands Land of Gold West Coast Pilsner and how we don’t see too many Indie Hops products in New Zealand outside of Strata. That Black Sands pilsner featured Luminosa, and Willamette Valley, a new offering from Garage Project, in collaboration with Trillium, also features Luminosa, alongside Strata and Audacia, which is related to Strata and exhibits some of that hops’ trademark berry notes.

I’ve yet to try all the beers released as part of Garage Project’s Valley Day, but I think Willamette Valley would be hard to beat. I haven’t enjoyed a beer with this much depth and length of flavour for a long time … it just kept giving and giving.

Sweet tangerine-mandarin citrus, some blackcurrant-catty notes on a broad, sweeping mouthfeel tied up in a pin-point bitterness. Majestic. (And it looks way lighter in colour than my late-night gloomy photo indicates!!)

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Could a beer win an election?

US presidential candidate Kamala Harris sat down for a beer with talk show host Stephen Colbert the other day, and it was enough to get Donald Trump’s camp a little agitated.

Let’s rewind a couple of months first, to a Bullfinch survey of 1,500 registered voters, spread equally across the three key swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. That survey showed that 40 percent would prefer to drink with Harris, compared to 36 percent who said the same for Trump. More than one in five voters (21 percent) said they would rather drink alone than with either the Democratic or Republican presidential hopefuls.

The polling question is a version of the so-called “beer question”, which has been used over the years to determine if a presidential candidate is likable and can appeal to the average voter. Trump has famously not drunk alcohol for decades, which may explain the rewording of the question.

Previous winners of the beer question have gone on to win their respective elections.

Perhaps because of this, Harris reinforced her more “likable” status by sharing a beer with Colbert — a Miller High Life — and proceeded to call Trump a “loser”.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded on X: “Kamala drinks a beer to show Americans how relatable she is, but she ends up looking like an out-of-touch elitist trying to gaslight everyone into thinking she’s one of them.”

The question of why Miller High Life — “the Champagne of Beers” — was raised in social media circles. Miller was a good choice because it’s brewed in Wisconsin, an important swing state, but going with High Life over Miller Lite also touches a middle-class button. On that note, I did see a story the other day that Miller High Life is making a comeback as a restaurant beer in the US … something seen as a little more upmarket.

Let’s see what November 5 delivers.

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Have a great weekend and catch you next time around

Michael