Breweries & Distilleries SPECIAL REPORT Breweries & Distilleries FEATURE MOVEMENT: Reece Wheadon and Pia Poynton say there has been a trend towards local beer. Photos: Gabriel Oliveira Craft brewers ride out COVID their own way While COVID-19 affected on-premises sales at craft breweries, it reinforced the emerging ‘buy-local’ trend and fast-tracked efforts to grow sales. WA Brewers Association pres- buying at the start, and then quality for the past year, and put Coincidentally and conven- ident Andrew Scade said all keg Easter wasn’t too bad for people the final touches to a move into iently, Nowhereman also had sales to hotels, pubs, and small and then it went back to quieter bottle shops in 2020. changed its distribution model bars stopped when hospitality levels after that, so it hasn’t been Without its own canning facil- from direct to third party, making venues closed on March 23. super strong,” he said. ity, Nowhereman instead had it easier for bottle shops to carry “Every brewery would be “People [producers] still aren’t pre-arranged bookings with its stock. selling kegs, and some of them getting the revenue they were mobile canner Wiley Canning “We had all these things that we wholly rely on kegs,” Mr Scade when they could sell kegs into Co for some of its products, Mr put in place, gearing up for a big told Business News. pubs, and bottles or cans into Wheadon said. six months,” Mr Wheadon said. “Others can rely on bottling or bottle shops.” “That worked really well “It probably still hasn’t been as Madeleine Stephens canning their beer, in which case West Leederville-based brew- because we had those forward big off-premises, but it’s been in
[email protected] they were still able to sell into pub Nowhereman Brewing Co days booked, whereas other line with what we are trying to 4-PAGE FEATURE off-premises bottle shops.” owner and co-founder, Reece people were waiting,” he said.