New Zealand: Lion buys Harrington’s boutique craft brewery

Lion New Zealand has clinched a deal to buy Harrington's craft brewery - one of the pioneers in the boutique sector, The Press reported on July 31.

When John Harrington set up the business in Christchurch 27 years ago, the only other independent brewer of note was Nelson-based McCashin's which Lion bought in 1999, although the latest generation of the McCashin family continues a local operation.

The Harrington's brand will be integrated into the Lion's den for wider national sales, providing a niche between the traditional Mac's brews and more intense hop-flavoured beers of Emerson's, which it acquired in 2012.

Harrington's founder, John Harrington said the market was "a very different place" from when he started and he had been thinking for a while about how best to carry the business into the future.

He said he had a relationship with Lion since his publican days and it had a strong track record of growing craft beer brands.

"We're confident that the work we've done in creating a strong legacy will be protected, and even strengthened by this move," Harrington said.

Lion plans to invest about NZ$2 million updating the Christchurch brewery in the initial stages to reinvigorate the business and improve brewing processes.

Rory Glass, Lion managing director said his company was honoured to be approached by Harrington's.

"Harrington's has such a rich and proud history and will be a fantastic complement to our existing range, with beers like Rogue Hop, Wobbly Boot and Ngahere Gold. We will build on what has made Harrington's so great and help make their beers more accessible to people across the country," Glass said.

Changes were already afoot at Harrington's. Over the past three years the family quit operating their own retail outlets and moved to purpose-built leased premises at Wigram to focus on bottled beers for supply to supermarkets, including in the North Island.

Over the years Harrington's has won more than 100 awards including the NZ Grand Champion Brewer 2012.

Harrington's and Lion will work together during the transition to new ownership and founder John Harrington will remain as brand ambassador.

The deal marks further evolution of the beer market from 30 years ago when Lion and its rival, Dominion Breweries, dominated the market with several of their own slightly different versions of draught beer.

They still have about 90 per cent of the market between them but their offerings include far more craft beers as a result of their takeovers of several independent brewers. There are still about 150 independent craft brewers.

Lion employs about 1000 people in various premises including its head office and main brewery, The Pride in Auckland, and at its Speight's, Emerson's (Dunedin) and Panhead Breweries (Lower Hutt), Wither Hills winery and Liquor King stores. It also has a 25 per cent stake in Tauranga-based GoodBuzz Beverage Co, specialising in kombucha.

In its last profit report Lion highlighted higher volumes of craft beer sales, up 31 per cent for Mac's and 90 per cent for Emerson's, and "stellar performance" by Steinlager Tokyo Dry "bucking prevailing trends in a challenging beer market".

Beer makes up about 63 per cent of all alcohol sales in New Zealand. Recent statistics showed a 1.2 per cent decline in consumption last year but a significant rise in craft beer consumption.

01 August, 2018