Fortunately there are now hundreds of Australian craft breweries creating a diverse range of styles and flavours like you’ve come to expect from wine or coffee.
From untapped market to beer on tap
In the US, craft beer is a $14 billion industry accounting for 14 per cent of total beer sales, and like many trends that start in America; we’re quickly following their footsteps.
According to Roy Morgan, the number of Australian adults consuming craft beer in an average four-week period has increased to more than one million for the first time, defying the downward trend of local mainstream beers. But despite its growing popularity, the best craft beers have to date been largely unavailable in bottle shops; only 3.3 per cent of the $6.7 billion annual beer market in Australia is craft beer, says IBISWorld.
So, if the impressive turnover of other online liquor stores Smarter saw at The Australian Startup Awards is anything to go by, the BeerBud model is a recipe for success.
The BeerBud mission
But the boys behind the growing start-up say that their focus is on educating the consumer. “We are on a mission to help Australians drink better beer,” said BeerBud co-founder Andy Williamson. And to help customers develop their taste for craft brews, BeerBud offers monthly or quarterly custom selected or expert curated packs.
“The traditional mainstream brewers are the first to admit that they’ve purposely designed their beers to be bland and flavourless in order to ensure their mass appeal. Fortunately there are now hundreds of Australian craft breweries creating a diverse range of styles and flavours like you’ve come to expect from wine or coffee. We have seen Aztec data (a leading supplier of data to the fast moving consumer goods [FMCG] industry in Australia and New Zealand) covering Woolworths, Coles and Australian liquor marketers (ALM) shows craft beer sales grew by 48 per cent between 2011 and 2013,” said Williamson.
BeerBud also offers tailored craft beer events and experiences for both consumers and corporates such as tasting and information sessions, meet the brewers, brewery tours and the opportunity to create your very own beer.
BeerBud also allow consumers to:
- Taste beers
- Attend information sessions
- Meet the brewers
- Attend brewery tours
- Create your very own beer
Say no to tasteless beer
Craft beer popularity is on the rise, but only 3.3 per cent of the beer market in Australia is craft beer. BeerBud provides a complete experience for the true beer drinker, an experience statistics show consumers are craving.
