E-Malt.com News article: Japan & Australia: Japan’s Asahi buys Australian craft brewer Mountain Goat

Japanese beer giant Asahi has scooped up its second Australian boutique brewer in as many years buying Melbourne-based brewer Mountain Goat, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on September 28.

The multinational beverage company's purchase of Mountain Goat, launched in 1997, continues the consolidation that has swept through the craft beer sector.

It comes after Asahi bought the Cricketers Arms brand, which it produces at a microbrewery at Laverton in Melbourne's west, in April 2013.

Cam Hines and David Bonighton founded Mountain Goat after "cranking out" home brews in Mr Bonighton's backyard in the early 1990s.

The pair said in a joint statement they would be "sticking around" at Mountain Goat, and had formed a good working relationship with Asahi.

"We've been contract partners with Asahi for three years now, and with their expert help our beer has grown in demand, expanded nationally, and found a special place with beer lovers," Mr Hines and Mr Bonighton said.

"We are confident that with Asahi on board, we will be able to convert many more people to craft beer than we could do on our own."

The pair said the sale would allow them to focus more on brewing beer and their aim of continuously improving quality.

"This was a key aspect of the sale for both sides.

"Over the past 18 years we've been on a determined exploration of good beer. A lot has changed since 1997. Back then we knew that Australian beer lovers deserved more than just bland, yellow fizzy lager, but it was so difficult to find. It's the very reason we started the brewery."

The full terms of the deal were not disclosed. Scott Hadley, the chief executive of Asahi's Australian and New Zealand business, said in a statement the company wanted to maintain Mountain Goat's unique branding and brewing method.

"Mountain Goat has an excellent reputation and a strong track record. We plan to preserve the uniqueness of the Mountain Goat business and it will continue operate as a stand-alone business," Mr Hadley said.

Mountain Goat employs about 25 full-time staff and another 20 casuals, according to its website. It brews its smaller-volume beers at a Richmond-based microbrewery and bigger batches, including 330ml bottled and 375ml canned beer, at a larger plant in Laverton.

Australia's mass-produced beers have battled a sharp decline in sales in the past five years. The latest data from the bureau of statistics shows total alcohol consumption has crashed to a 50-year low, with beer the hardest hit.

"Fifty years ago, beer made up three-quarters of all alcohol consumed, but now makes up under half at 41 per cent," said Louise Gates from the ABS.

But not all beers are equal. IBISWorld predicts the craft beer segment, which accounts for 2.5 to 3 per cent of the Australian market, will grow 10 per cent each year for the next five years, while consumption of traditional brands will continue to fall.

Some brewers have moved quickly to capitalise on the trend. In 2013, Lion – a subsidiary of Japanese beverage giant Kirin that controls about half the Australian craft beer market – poured A$60 million into a new brewery at Geelong to produce its Little Creatures brand.

"It makes commercial sense as well because craft beer is typically high value per litre. It makes sense for everyone – the consumer likes it, we like it and that's why it makes sense to invest in a place like this," Lion chief executive Stuart Irvine said at the time.


29 September, 2015