Islands and Beers: Toasting a Discriminatory Approach

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OAR@UM Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 51, No. 1, April 2010 ISSN 1360-7456, pp61–72 Islands and beers: Toasting a discriminatory approach to small island manufacturingapv_1414 61..72 Godfrey Baldacchino Island Studies Program, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE, Canada C1A 4P3. Email: [email protected] Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between beers and island development, using a global sweep but with a special reference to the insular Pacific. It adopts a discriminatory approach, touching upon the role and impact that niche and bouquet beer manufacturing can have on the socioeconomic development of small islands. It departs from a personal observation: many small island jurisdictions have their own brewery. Indeed, the brewery could also be the island territory’s largest indigenous manufacturing concern. While small islands are associated with low manufacturing capacity and diseconomies of scale, nevertheless ‘a local brewery’ comes across, in many cases, as a profitable and glaring exception that speaks to the attractions and virtues of locality branding. Keywords: beer, branding, brewery, islands, manufacturing Introduction without invitation; during which time the guests expect to be fed, to drink beer and be bought Kabutaulaka (2005: 88–89) provides anecdotes new things. Social and cultural practices aside, of men from Malaita and Guadalcanal, proudly local beers however also perform a vital, and showing off that they can afford to buy and drink perhaps under-appreciated, economic function the Solomon Islands beer, Solbrew.The alcoholic to small island territories. drink becomes the commodity around which the Since we all need to drink to survive, bever- lucrative logging industry revolves. ‘It dictates ages accompany human consumption regularly. the nature of logging negotiations, state policies, Among beverages, beer is allegedly the world’s and the relationship between landowners and oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic the different stakeholders in the forest industry’ beverage, and the third most popular drink (Kabutaulaka, 2005). overall in the world, after water and tea (Arnold, The drinking of beer performs multiple roles 1911/2005; Nelson, 2005: 1). in Pacific society. Early missionaries took This paper is the result of a remarkable extreme lengths to enforce prohibition and amalgam of cultural tourism, academic inquiry stamp out the practice of kava drinking; and the and a personal appreciation for good cold beer. secret production of strong local ‘bush beers’ As an ‘island studies’ scholar, I have been to was a natural reaction. This may explain why various island jurisdictions around the world, beer, like yaqona/kava, is often consumed col- and a request to sample ‘the local beer’ is one of legially in the region in elaborate and entertain- my standard obligations. The question is some- ing ceremonies, which could involve music, times met with incredulity: why try the local, sir, dancing and prayer. The tunumu or ‘bush beer when we have imported, foreign brands? At drinking schools’ are still relatively non- other times, the sad answer is that none is avail- commercial and add a relaxed event of tradi- able. But: where the request is met, I have rarely tional entertainment to a Cook Island holiday been disappointed. I now have a modest collec- (Rowlands, 2007). Town dwellers on most tion of colourful aluminium beer cans and beer Pacific islands can expect to host guests from bottle caps as hard evidence of my triumphant their village, for long periods, unexpectedly and consumption of local cultures. © 2010 The Author doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2010.01414.x Journal compilation © 2010 Victoria University of Wellington G. Baldacchino The challenge mountainous or landlocked. In spite of the real difficulties associated with developing manu- How does one transform small size and relative facturing capacity on small island economies – isolation into a powerful combination for (Baldacchino, 1998; more on this below) – this sustainable growth and prosperity? The clutch of does not mean that there are no small island winning tools and strategies necessary for manufactures; and some of these can also be achieving this desirable goal include the brand- competitive, appealing to both local and foreign ing of niche products and services (Baldacchino consumers. Thus, in various island jurisdictions et al., 2009). This paper explores one product that I have visited – including Åland, Barbados, that appears to lend itself handsomely to this Bermuda, Cyprus, Fiji, Iceland, St Lucia and the task. This is accomplished by virtue of a broad Seychelles–Ihavecome across an island appeal, an explicit affiliation with the locality brewery. Moreover: where it is produced, the relative ease of it being ‘import substituted’, and the ability to tap into On Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest both tourist and diaspora export markets. province with a population of 140 000, the The perspective is a welcome shift of perspec- Gahan Pub has its own microbrewery, produc- tive from the rather pessimistic approach to ing handcrafted ales since 2000 (http:// small island development that has continued to www.gahan.ca/). dominate the literature, until very recently. A In the sovereign island state of Malta, with its small (often island) economy is recognised as population of 410 000, the largest indigenous having an ability to adjust fast and well to (in this case, Maltese owned) manufacturing sudden changes: an ability which larger, lum- group of companies is the Farsons Group. It is bering economies might not have. This has very the only locally owned manufacturing firm much been the only recognised asset among a which employs more than 500 employees in whole litany of woes for small economies; and a the country. The first locally brewed beer – rhetorical one at that, not subjected to rigorous Farsons Pale Ale – was launched in 1928 testing. The list of ‘chronic vulnerabilities’, (http://www.farsons.com/). meanwhile, is extensive: it includes the relative A hundred years ago, Bornholm, the island inability to reap economies of scale, a poorly municipality of Denmark, with its some diversified economic structure, a high exposure 40 000 inhabitants, boasted more than 40 to foreign trade risks, a large brain and skill local breweries. In the late 1950s, the last one drain, relatively high transport costs, and (par- closed, and mainland Denmark’s giants – ticularly in the Caribbean) a high susceptibility Tuborg, Carlsberg and Faxe – took over. But a micro-brewery has re-opened in the town of to environmental hazards (e.g. Dolman, 1985; Svaneke recently. With its special brew of Briguglio and Kaminarides, 1993). Kaminarides Bornholmer Bryg, this is the fourth mini- (1989: xii–xiv) must hold the record, outlining brewery in Denmark today. In 2003, Svaneke no less than 29 different ‘characteristics’ of Bryghus won the ‘beer of the year’ award and it small, mainly island, economies ‘which tend to is known nationwide. The brewery offers act as development constraints’. guided tours, beer tasting and a restaurant Such sweeping statements, however, are not (http://www.svanekebryghus.dk). useful explanatory tools when it comes to Founded in 1890 as a brewery, San Miguel looking at the opportunities that may result from Corporation is the largest publicly listed food, economic policy or private entrepreneurship. beverage and packaging company in the Phil- With their broad strokes, they are unable to ippines. As of 2001, its business generated discriminate in favour of the evidence for devel- 3.6% of the Philippines’ GDP and 4.5% of the opment ‘on the ground’. Many small island state’s tax revenue. It is one of the Philippines’ jurisdictions perform well economically, in biggest private sector employers, with over spite – or because? – of all these obstacles. 25 000 employees (http://www.sanmiguel. Armstrong and Read (2006) argue that island- com.ph/). ness is indeed a positive contributor to the economic development of small jurisdictions, as A look at the http://www.beerme.com website – against such other geographic features as being ‘the most complete source of brewery informa- 62 © 2010 The Author Journal compilation © 2010 Victoria University of Wellington Islands and beers tion worldwide’ – reveals that many of the state bureaucracy turned such projects into world’s small island states and territories have at glaring and expensive failures, even in large least one brewery. The main exceptions are economies (e.g. Thorp, 1992). those islands whose population is very small,1 Admittedly, some of the world’s smallest where alcohol may be banned for religious jurisdictions did bravely attempt to follow their reasons,2 or else otherwise not tolerant to the alleged destiny into industrialisation: for drinking of alcoholic beverages.3 example, the Seychelles, an archipelago with a total population of around 80 000, set up two plastic manufacturing plants which ended up Looking for explanations producing ‘inferior, unprinted containers for Rs But why should many small island jurisdictions 0.25 and Rs 0.36, whereas imported printed have a brewery? A closer scrutiny reveals more- containers, duty paid, cost Rs 0.19’ (Kaplinsky, over that many of these breweries on small 1983: 205; ‘Rs’ stands for Rupees, the Seychel- island territories exist where other manufactur- lois currency). ing concerns do not. In some cases,

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