Australia's smaller brewers are generating more than $740 million in annual economic output and $280 million in revenue, according to a new report commissioned by the Independent Brewers Association.
According to the report, the industry produced 59 million litres of beer in 2015/16, and employed more than 2400 full time equivalent workers - 73 per cent of all employment in the brewing industry in Australia.
The report also found that the industry had 380 participants as at 30 June 2016, and it now has more than 420, with 65 per cent of these businesses located outside of the capital cities.
“Small independent breweries are a great local employer and are quickly becoming an important part of many local communities as consumers become increasingly interested in the businesses that create the beer that they drink,” IBA chair Ben Kooyman said.
“In fact, independent beer is bucking the trend of declining beer consumption by changing the pattern of beer drinking from being focused on a quantity of mass produced beer to the quality being provided by locally produced independent beer.”
Peta Fielding, the co-owner of Gold Coast brewer, Burleigh Brewing Co, applauded the results but said her industry’s success had not come easily, given the “burdensome excise regime imposed on small brewers”.
“Craft brewers pay approximately 25 per cent of their total revenue as excise – a tax that is imposed as soon as the beer leaves the brewery, whether the brewer has been paid for it at that point or not.”
“Excise relief would enable small brewers to invest in building their capacity and capability and generate more employment opportunities,’ Fielding said.
The Independent Brewers Association says it is currently lobbying the Federal Government for fairer taxes for its members.
