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The High Country Hop Technical Symposium 2025: Independent Brewers Association
55 Plays17 minutes ago
On March 21, 2025, The Crafty Pint team MC'd and recorded The High Country Hop Technical Symposium in Beechworth.
Over the coming months, we'll share some of the presentations and panels from the day outside of our usual podcast schedule. First up: the team from the Independent Brewers Association, whose keynote presentation contains plenty of eye-opening data on the state of the industry and a call to arms ahead of the 2025 Federal Election.
You can read more about their Campaign 2025 – and how you can get involved, whether you work in beer or just enjoy it – in the accompanying article below.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Technical Symposium in Beechworth
00:00:02
Speaker
The High Country Hop 2025 Technical Symposium took place in Beechworth in the Victorian High Country on March 21st. The event brought together industry experts from across Australia and further afield for a day of presentations, panels, sensory sessions and networking over beer.
IBA's 2025 Federal Election Insights
00:00:18
Speaker
The day opened with a keynote speech from the Independent Brewers Association, once again the technical symposium presenting partners. IBA CEO Kylie Lethbridge, Head of Industry Development Sabrina Kunz, and Chair Evan Craney from Bright Brewery presented some eye-opening new stats on the state of the industry, as well as highlighting opportunities presented by the 2025 federal election.
00:00:39
Speaker
You can listen to their insightful keynote speech now.
CEO's Reflections on the Symposium Experience
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome everyone. um I'm Kylie, the CEO of the Independent Brewers Association. With me is Sabrina Kuntz, our head of industry development and our chair, Evan Craney, who's also the national sales manager and brand ambassador for Bright Brewery. So we are super happy to be here.
00:01:01
Speaker
My fourth um ah symposium and and festival and it's safe to say that it's one of my favourite, I love it. I think I've said three times already today that it inspires me.
00:01:14
Speaker
Every single one ah that I've been to, what I hear, what I am a part of inspires me because it's ah at ah at a very, um pitched at ah at a certain level of of really grassroots experience.
00:01:28
Speaker
beer industry, getting together and and having a good time. And so i appreciate that. And i appreciate Ben for ah each year sticking his neck out to put this on for all of us, really, and and look forward to catching up with everybody throughout the day.
Membership Invitation and Communication Strategies
00:01:43
Speaker
ah Just wanted to acknowledge our members in the room, our um brewery members, our associate members, and also those that aren't members that might want to be members by the end of today.
00:01:54
Speaker
We're here to talk. So today we're going to do things a little differently. um For those that have been here year on year, we usually give you an outline of what's going on, ah making an assumption that, you know, it's hard to catch up with all our comms and so we use this as an opportunity to catch you up, ah bring you up to date on what's happening, what's coming in the future, but obviously, as James has said, this is a very different time in a history for the industry.
00:02:22
Speaker
It's safe to say that now more than ever the spotlight is shining on Indy Beer. um Yes, we can say that that you know some of the big brewers will benefit from some of this light being shined and we're going to talk about that a little bit later.
Member Support and Media Engagement
00:02:39
Speaker
But it it's our scrappy groundwork and it's the ah support of our members that are getting us into all of the mainstream media on television having the project ring me and say, how do we get to Beechworth today?
00:02:52
Speaker
And so um while we are all maybe doing it a little tough and we don't want to talk too much about that either, um ah we are certainly working together and that's the thing that's going to get us ah these successes and these wins as we go.
Managing IBA Initiatives and Industry Feedback
00:03:08
Speaker
So today, instead of going through that line by line activity of the IBA, we're going to try and explain to you all the balls that are in the air that we're trying to juggle. and then and we're going to try to pull it all together for you as well and then we might you know have a little more feedback. We're really keen at this point in time to hear from you about what's impacting you, what you might want from really the only industry association that's working on behalf of Beer Each and Every Day.
00:03:37
Speaker
ah and um and then maybe what we need from from you at the end if we get time. So we're going to tag team as we do and again very much looking forward to hearing some some of that feedback back from you about where we're at, what we're doing, whether or not you're listening to us, whether or not we're giving you what you need to be able to support us to move forward.
00:04:03
Speaker
So first first slide is was a map, but that's OK. It just showed how many brewers there are around the country. So we've just done an audit. Because, you know, everybody bandies around different numbers. You listen to Mazen Hajar and he says there's 800, sometimes there's 1,000, think.
00:04:23
Speaker
um We say regularly 650 plus. Is that brewing brands? Is that brewing businesses? And so we've... um The team has done some work on ah on on actually trying to rationalise that. So now we say 675 plus because, you know, there's one new every day. We've got...
00:04:43
Speaker
15 or so breweries and planning members as well so more coming along and those that we just um aren't on our radar and um it's at the minute there's about 364 of those that are our members so we're hoping again that that that grows over time because again working together at the minute is super important.
00:05:05
Speaker
One of the things that you'll have seen in all the media that James mentioned is is is data and facts and some new information that we've been able to ascertain, one, again, by being a little bit scrappy, and two, by the generous contribution of our associate members, ah many of which are in the room today.
Beer Industry Growth and Economic Impact
00:05:24
Speaker
so The new economic impact analysis that we did asked a whole bunch of questions of brewers, as you know for the brewers in the room and the owners in the room, very very challenging to get information out of you buggers. so It took us a really long time, but the key point here is that in 2021, not long after I first started, I did some analysis which said that the impact of our part of the industry, our part of the beer industry, was worth 1.93 billion to the economy nationally.
00:05:53
Speaker
That was surprising at the time. Not surprising probably that it's now 3.53 billion four years later. And so again, it's because of everybody in this room, the hard work that you do and the things that you're trying to achieve in terms of serving and providing quality beer all over the country.
00:06:12
Speaker
um There's some ups and downs, obviously. You know, that that last analysis was done in 2021. Times were a little bit better. We were still on that significant growth trajectory. And so you're seeing you you're seeing some down arrows, definitely. But the fact that the...
00:06:28
Speaker
that the economic impact analysis has increased so much is is something is certainly something to say. The other thing to say which is not on this is that ah we are this percentage of the industry yet we employ over 50% of the sector.
Consumer Challenges and Market Dominance
00:06:44
Speaker
So more weight is given to that when you add that stat. the other thing The other new information that we got, which you'll see through the messaging that's coming after this, is that we were able to add a couple of questions to a political poll in September last year. um And we added three questions about beer.
00:07:07
Speaker
and we've released this to members as well. The two questions were about awareness, the other question was about style. We thought, you know, some information on on styles would help our members and the other questions about the marketplace would help us in our advocacy.
00:07:21
Speaker
So that that information on style is available to all members, all IBA members, if you haven't seen that yet. The important thing here is while we think we're doing a great job, while we think our marketing is extraordinary, only 21% only twenty one percent of us ah understand the landscape of the beer industry, which is why work like the Crafty Pints, who owns your beer poster, and the fact that we're trying to now get it around the country, our members are amplifying that, is super important, because the awareness of who owns what is just not there, and we know because we don't have...
00:07:56
Speaker
enforcement of truth in labelling that the big guys get to continue to pretend to be something that they're not and now the retailers are also allowed to pretend to be something that they're not.
00:08:07
Speaker
The interesting thing here is 53% of Australians want the ACCC to conduct and we know we're going to talk about market dominance later so you'll hear us talk a little bit more about this today in the hope that that informs the the convo later in the day.
Calls for ACCC Inquiry and Political Engagement
00:08:21
Speaker
um We have been working on a market dominance piece for some time. It's certainly been covered by media now more than ever. Australians want the ACCC to look into the beer industry in this country because we have we're a bit sick of the duopoly. You know, the supermarket inquiry illustrated that Australians are a bit sick of this and so we're hoping to ride that wave in regard to beer.
00:08:45
Speaker
and um Australians don't know, they're certainly more aware of it now, but they didn't know that their beer tax goes up twice a year. They certainly don't know that we've just experienced the 84th increase since 1983.
00:08:58
Speaker
and So again, awareness is low, which is why you've seen us. and When Sabrina gets up and connects all the dots in this funky map later, um that but we're talking a lot about this and so I think I've said it a thousand times, I probably need to say it three thousand times to continue to get it through but again the message is being heard.
00:09:17
Speaker
the important The important stat there is the one at the bottom, we're coming into an election, we're waiting for a budget now to be handed down on the 25th of March, we're hoping that that will be say good things for us but if not, we're in war planning mode for when the election is called because 60% of soft voters, those that are yet undecided, and this was, remember, in September last year, so a lot of water under the bridge between then and now, think that beer is an issue.
00:09:45
Speaker
And so, again, it's why we we we won't stop. we won't ask We won't stop asking you to keep going because we've got a little long run between now and an election in May. So again, data, data, data. We've also just had a little windfall in the last couple of days where we've had some data dropped in our lap that we would never be able to ah pay for.
00:10:07
Speaker
And it's given us some scary information about market share, which is that it's way above 83%. Between the supermarkets and the big brewers, it's probably at 96, 95, 96. ninety five ninety six So you'll hear us talk a little bit more about that later down the track.
00:10:22
Speaker
Again, better ammo for the ACCC.
00:10:25
Speaker
So this is just some of the work that's going on um in that election campaign. We appreciate, again, those that are sharing, using these tiles. We know that your ah your marketing, your advocacy, your efforts are getting traction with your drinkers.
00:10:41
Speaker
And so, again, if even all members use this message, imagine the amplification Imagine that then if our associate members started to talk about this and raise awareness again across the country of what these issues are.
00:10:57
Speaker
So now's the time. These assets are all available to you in different formats on the Independent Brewers Association's website under a tab called Campaign 2025. There's videos, there's our pre-budget submission, there's our ah what promises have been made to date, which we'll talk a little bit later, but there's some significant information there for you to use.
00:11:21
Speaker
What we haven't done yet, um because we'll use this new data, is is have a crack in this format at the duopoly. We've got a lot of ammo there though, so that'll be that'll be coming soon.
00:11:35
Speaker
So this is now where that balls in the air discussion that I talked about um and and Sabrina's going to pull some of this together um and try and explain again just what the the the two and a half people in the IBA are are trying to juggle at the minute.
00:11:54
Speaker
Hi guys. um This is sort of how my brain works. um This is the inside of our brain when we're sitting down to say how do we communicate what is going on both to you, our members, and then to the media and beyond. And I think sort of the starting point here is ah We can be in a little bit of a bubble.
00:12:13
Speaker
um We're all going about our business, but it's our job as the IBA to keep all of these balls in the air. So I'm going to kind of start in the left-hand column. um We have had pre-election commitments from both major parties.
00:12:27
Speaker
um They relate to, so both have committed to the 40% cut in draft and we can revisit how positive that is for independent brewers or not. But we know there is a segment of our market of independent brewers that rely heavily on venue um revenue and so it will touch and support some of our larger venue-based independent brewers.
00:12:48
Speaker
because of market share, any benefit on tax will always flow ah to the big brewers. We've also got um pre-election commitments from Pauline Hanson and Bob Catter.
00:12:59
Speaker
So we're feeling really good about those. um
00:13:05
Speaker
We'll talk about why that matters, though, and we'll just give Bob Catter as an example because Kylie's been talking talking about kind of foot on the floor. Next week is ah Budget Week, so budget handed down on Tuesday by the Labor Party. We're hoping that it contains financial commitments above and beyond what has come out so far.
00:13:22
Speaker
But then we will have replies from both the Coalition, so the Libs and the Nats. Right now, analysts are projecting that it may be either party has to form a minority government. What that means is they need to go around and get independents to help them form government.
00:13:37
Speaker
So what we're doing is trying to pick off ah which independents might fall on which side and make sure that they know what our issues are. So Bob Catter was a great example. He has a small independent brewer in his...
00:13:48
Speaker
electorate, he pops into the brewery regularly, they met with him and Bob Catter would likely fall with the coalition. So we need to get that, pick off those independents so that they support the pre-election commitments made so that when someone forms government we actually get an outcome.
00:14:05
Speaker
So it sounds a little bit like balls in the air and that's what we're dealing with which is why Kylie constantly calls us scrappy. um We did last year have an excise reform motion that was um discussed on the floor of Parliament. It was raised by a national MP.
00:14:22
Speaker
You had members from the National Party speak for excise reform and also members from the Labor Party respond. Interestingly, in amongst the Labor Party responses were some commentary that was quite supportive of independent beer and actually things that needed to change in the taxation regime.
00:14:39
Speaker
So, you know, we've tracked all of those comments really closely and it's why we were confident that we would get some pre-election commitments this year. um Down on the bottom here, there was a, um so I think we submitted to eight different federal inquiries last year, appeared before a number of them, Kylie, our former chair,
00:14:57
Speaker
And one of those inquiries was the Alcohol and Drug Foundation ah inquiry into the harm of alcohol and other drugs. And this is from a submission from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation who have said, ah the organisation recommends that the federal government reform the alcohol taxation regime in Australia by removing the wet and placing wine on the excise system.
00:15:20
Speaker
So that is what we have been advocating for as the IBA. We've been talking about fair reform for taxation. So we are now aligned with the position from most of the health lobbyists with respect to um what needs to happen with taxation regime. And so that is really removing ah boxed wine and focusing on... um I like to use the um i like to use the the words around um yeah around alcohol levels, but the board... won ah We're focused on fair taxation regime. That's what we're focused on, right, guys? But the winners our fair alcohol tax regime is going to be low ABV products.
00:16:00
Speaker
And who makes the best low ABV products? Alcohol in the country? We do. Indy Brewers, we're making, we're one of the largest mid-strength markets in the world. And so if we're setting an excise regime based on alcohol content, beer is going to be the winner on that.
00:16:14
Speaker
So um that's sort of where we're focused on taxation. There's a lot going on. Yes, there've been promises around draft cut. There's been the increase in the 50,000 remission threshold committed to by Labor.
00:16:27
Speaker
um So we're still going to see where all of that lands next week. and I'll connect that up to the review shortly. On the flip side, um we also had an en inquiry into food and beverage manufacturing last year in which a recommendation was made that the House Select Committee establish another inquiry into the alcohol industry.
00:16:48
Speaker
ah We had another inquiry in relation to competition in which it was found that there appears to be evidence of high margins in the beer brewing sector, bearing in mind they're focused on the margins of um the two foreign-owned breweries.
00:17:03
Speaker
um and This would contribute to high costs for consumers and is indicative of excise smart excess market power. so What that says to us is that that competition inquiry really got it.
00:17:17
Speaker
The federal members that were part of that really got it and they saw it for what it was.
Industry Practices Review and Digital Innovations
00:17:21
Speaker
So we've got Harm in Alcohol saying review tax. We've got Federal um Food and Bev saying we need to look at the alcohol industry. We've got the Competition Inquiry saying we need to do something about this excessive market market power.
00:17:37
Speaker
We've had a letter from a crossbench um thanks to a meeting that um Ev arranged with local MP here, Helen Haynes. She facilitated a meeting for us in which the crossbench, most of the indie brewers independent brewers That's a slip of the tongue.
00:17:52
Speaker
ah Independent MPs committed to writing a letter seeking an ACCC inquiry into the beer industry. um And then we've also had the Assistant Competition Minister Andrew Lee last year come out and say there's plenty of reasons to look into the beer industry. but And last week since updating this there's also been the commitment by Labor to take a inquiry and consultation into unfair trade practices for small businesses.
00:18:19
Speaker
So there's lots of talk of we need to look at some things and then on the tax side there's we need to look at some things and both parties, both major parties, a lot of the politicians are starting to talk about a review.
00:18:30
Speaker
We have no idea what the scope of that review will be. Will it just be focused on tax? like the health advocates want. Will it just be focused on market access and duopoly? We don't know.
00:18:42
Speaker
But right now, it's all pointing towards there will be a review of some kind, probably the largest we've seen and most impactful to us for many, many years coming.
00:18:55
Speaker
So that's really huge um and it's part of those big dots and it's thanks to all of the advocacy. Underneath that, we've kind of got some things that are simmering away but actually are super impactful to the cost of doing business for for all of you breweries.
00:19:09
Speaker
ah Also in the food and beverage inquiry, there was a recommendation that we should be moving to digitisation and innovation for on-label solutions. um Thank you. um We've been advocating for that for you for a long time, so you don't need to add more space to add more things um like energy labelling or can all be done via a QR code or 2D barcode.
00:19:32
Speaker
So that Food and Bev Inquiry has just released that recommendation and we're going to really lean into that um on advocacy for labelling. GS1, the 2D barcodes are now live, so we don't even need to go to an additional space for your QR code. We can link straight through barcodes.
00:19:47
Speaker
um And then the third thing that's happened in labelling for us just in the last couple of weeks, thanks to the Prime Minister, is obviously the conversation around buy Australian made. We obviously jumped on that really quickly and say buy Australian made and owned.
00:19:59
Speaker
um And there's a little bit of education that needs to occur in the marketplace. Again, as Kylie pointed out, 21% of um Australians do not know um that the big brewers make up 83% market share. So part of that is labelling in the conversation around Australian made and owned. So that's a really helpful discourse for us ah just in the lead up to the election.
Efforts on Container Deposit Schemes and Advocacy
00:20:22
Speaker
And the other one that is, you know, impactful to you on a day by day basis is um container deposit schemes, their cost to you both per CAN, but also the administrative burden. And so we're looking into and have been the most vocal in pushing for national harmonisation, which aims to make it easier for you to do the same thing across multiple states.
00:20:42
Speaker
One form of registration easing some of that administrative burden. um There's currently an inquiry that's been announced and is ongoing into Queensland into the container exchange scheme. And finally, a recommendation from the food and beverage manufacturing inquiry that actually noted that the federal government needs to play a role in pushing for harmonisation. And the reason that's important is because to date it's really left at the heads of the environmental protection agencies in the states.
00:21:10
Speaker
with the federal government sort of letting it happen and now they've been tasked with taking a stronger role and that can only be positive in terms of reducing the burden for all of you. So um there's a lot in those kind of full bullet points. I guess the piece for all of you guys to know is that when we come out with a really simple line that says, um ah Beer drinkers are paying too much tax.
00:21:35
Speaker
It's as a result of every word that we've read in here that will be the most impactful or foreign duopoly do X or we need X or Y. So when we come out with an ask that says this is the advocacy ask and this is why we're holding back or pushing forward on one or other ask, it's because it's informed by all of these balls in the air.
00:21:57
Speaker
Oh, I didn't go across. to Yes. I'm going to hand it back to Kylie, but does anybody have any questions about the balls in the air that we just went through? Okay.
00:22:10
Speaker
I think we'll leave questions till the end just because we're burning through burning through time. I think the important thing, and Sabrina did an you know amazing job as usual because she's the one that's you know managing this in the background. I'm the one that's talking about it, the front facing.
00:22:24
Speaker
But the thing to the the thing to note is that, you know and those again have heard me talk year on year about the concept of Beer Australia. Because we have no position, no recognition at a federal level,
00:22:35
Speaker
the b you know At a federal level, the beer industry is classified as revenue line. no funding. you know Last year they gave a minimum of $12.5 million to Wine Australia. Then they gave them a $3.5 million dollar bailout because, poor them, they had too many red wine grapes.
00:22:51
Speaker
um we we We receive no recognition, no policy, no department cares about us. And so it's why they're so advanced and we, the Independent Brewers Association, have to do all of the things that Sabrina outlined. I think it's a really important point in that you know we're we're kind of the poor cousins, but the the traction you know is is significant. I'm going to whiz through my part of this and really, it as it says in the middle, it's all the other stuff.
00:23:17
Speaker
um And it's important for you to know what we're trying to achieve on your behalf, particularly from a state
State Strategies and Regulatory Challenges
00:23:24
Speaker
perspective. So um one of the things that I set out to achieve when I came on board was a state strategy or or plan or some support in in every state in lieu of having that lack of love at a federal level. And so we'll achieve that this year.
00:23:40
Speaker
um with BEATAS coming, South Australia coming, Queensland iteration two, New South Wales iteration two, WA cracking along last year.
00:23:51
Speaker
In Victoria we do a little differently as many of you know. The regulatory space, so aside from the the kind of campaign 2025 stuff we talked about, the ongoing issues, we deal with the ATO, we meet with them regularly ah regularly on your behalf, we're cooking up some resources at the minute, how to not do this, how to not get in trouble, had a and how to make it easy to fill out your excise administration um ah portal.
00:24:20
Speaker
For Zans, as Sabrina said, you know, labelling is such a big thing when you know that the Food Standards Australia New Zealand board reports to a food forum ministers, all health ministers,
00:24:32
Speaker
No industry. So clearly driven by a certain remit, by a certain bent, and so we must make our our voice louder in that space. um Proactively, we've done a huge amount of work with Fizanz in building a relationship. I had the team come over from New Zealand and and around the country last year whizzed them down to the Mornington Peninsula, had them visit Hop Nation, had them here from Richard Jeffers at Two Bays and to see the size and scale of our breweries. They were astounded and to be honest the relationship has changed. They now have a very different understanding of who we are
00:25:09
Speaker
um and and some of the implications. And so this last round of labelling, they went and did their own cost analysis to to understand the implications of what they were recommending. And I'm absolutely sure that was as a result of the work that but us and our members have done over the years.
00:25:26
Speaker
ABAC, you'll all love and know ABAC. Some of you in the room might have even come a cropper um with the quasi-regulatory body for alcohol marketing.
00:25:38
Speaker
They put out consultation late last year. We were probably pretty tired. Sabrina drafted it. was pretty feral. If you have a read of it, was we were a bit cranky. ah And as a result, we just heard, and this will come out to in our comms next week, they've decided no further action. They were trying to be a more formal federal regulatory body.
00:26:01
Speaker
Their boards agreed that that's probably not the way they're going to go. And they're going to work with continue to work with the state licensing boards to be a quasi-regulatory body. So we we take that as a win. and Sabrina got some frustration out, which was great.
00:26:15
Speaker
Container deposit schemes, the federal stuff, we were the only one pushing for national harmonisation, one register, one scheme. ah That was committed in 2021. We're trying to currently now keep them honest and keep them on to that because when each state state government changes, they decide to have a different opinion.
00:26:33
Speaker
But also, on top of the national focus, we respond to the state scheme reviews. We're still waiting on the result of South Australia's amendment bill. ah We work at the Victorian level. We work at the Queensland level. And um really, it's to better understand it so we can advocate for you because it's really complex. It really is.
00:26:54
Speaker
And then the the responsive ah reactive rather than proactive is you know we get a new bill, we get a new tax in Victoria that's proposed to implement for online ordering that they're trying to sneak under the radar, that's going to have a significant impact for you, we respond to it.
00:27:14
Speaker
um We're currently in with a new government in Queensland. They've given us a Queen... ah for those Queensland members in the room. They realised that the Office of Liquor and Gaming was busting their chops.
00:27:26
Speaker
They realised the AHA has a significant amount of power in Queensland and that's influenced some decision-making around takeaway licences and others that benefit them and not us. So we're in having now an open and honest dialogue about all the regulatory burdens for Queenslanders, which is fantastic.
00:27:42
Speaker
So, you know, lots of work going on under the federal stuff and certainly under the water, the the the paddling under the water and allergies stuff that you don't see. So, for the other side of the slide, back to Sabrina.
00:27:55
Speaker
and we um So consumers, you know, for years the IBA has been doing a whole host of work in terms of encouraging consumers to understand how to choose Indie. Obviously choose Indie, use the Indie seal.
00:28:08
Speaker
ah The couple of activities that we've got on this year would be um we partnered, as you heard, likely with the AIBAs. um We have been trying to take a lead for our supply chain partners in pulling back on some of the asks.
00:28:23
Speaker
um It's not just brewers who have been um suffering as a result of the economic environment and most of the supply chain members are our associate members and what we hear loud and clear is we get a lot of asks to support a lot of things and so this year we really thought about what was best for the entire industry and as a result put a couple of our events on hold and decided to partner with the Australian International Beer Awards running it rather than running the indies ourselves.
00:28:50
Speaker
um As a result of that however we're going to be really able to focus on the consumer side of promoting those winners. So indie winners, um we're cooking that up right now and we'll be able to share that with you shortly. and um Ask for Indie Beer is still up alive and we use that to promote all of our tasks, um all of our activities. You'll see on the next slide the things we wish we could do um and what's holding us back.
00:29:11
Speaker
From an event, this year we've got mashups happening in every state, hopefully, and then we're supporting industry events and we'll be attending them as per usual and giving these updates. Resources, um most of you will have seen we've got a human resource service there if you haven't accessed it, 350 plus templates, policies, employment agreements, um they're free for you to use as a member.
00:29:34
Speaker
You've got ah the ability to speak to a human. about an ah HR problem in your business and that is free to you as a member. We've also just launched a similar program for legal services whereby you get contract reviews at a fixed price um so that you can, in these more challenging times, and ensure you're protecting your businesses. 100 plus resources on the IBA website.
00:29:58
Speaker
Go take a look. um Super valuable. What we wish we could do. um If we had all the money, um the areas that we would like to focus on are ongoing consumer awareness and promotion, as we talked about.
00:30:12
Speaker
It's linked to we need people to know that they're not buying Indy, so that when we come to election promises and mobilising our consumers, they know who to support. so We're hoping and we would love to run an Indie Beer Day. ah We're hoping to redevelop the Ask for Indie Beer website and do more pushes and more partnerships with tourism.
00:30:31
Speaker
We'd really love to have an Indie merch store so we can but buy stuff that's got the Indie seal on it and use that as a catalyst for conversations with their consumers. We'd love to extend our quality program, which has been um developed in partnership with Fermentis and Athena.
00:30:46
Speaker
ah Quality, it's an excellent starting point for breweries that can't afford to have an in-house quality resource. And we really want to do more around supporting um sustainability and electricity conversions and all of those things associated with the high costs um of brewing.
00:31:03
Speaker
um And finally, and and probably most importantly, we're looking at ways that we can make the IBA itself better. um financially sustainable ah into the future because um from everything that we've just told you we are the entity um that is is holding all the balls up in the air and if the IBA isn't there um there could be a big big gap in the market so what we're doing right now is looking at what can we do to support all of you for there to be a sustainable IBA into the future and I think probably Ev's got some ideas about things he would like to see us all do
00:31:39
Speaker
um Yeah, guys, so i yeah I guess I'm coming from this from a board perspective, less an executive perspective, and and one from a brewery side of things. So realistically, we're all very aware of the market conditions we're
IBA's Political Influence and Advocacy Efforts
00:31:53
Speaker
facing. um In all honesty, this is the best position or I believe the IBA has been in from a political standpoint ah through my tenure. um I've been on with the board now for three years. But even prior to that, we have the ears at the moment to...
00:32:08
Speaker
I'm sure all your ah algorithms are like mine on social media, just keeps popping up, your schooners are going up, mainstream media is grabbing it, we're getting it news.com and just all the mainstream media are getting this.
00:32:20
Speaker
It might at times feel as though it's speaking more directly towards the likes of the CUB and Alain Nathan with the imagery they use when they're talking about the costs going up. What it is doing is creating awareness. Now, from a board perspective and what I would like to see from members is we now have a moment in time where we've seen both major political parties are listening, we're getting independents listening to us as well.
00:32:44
Speaker
The IBA is a small team, as Kylie and Sabrina have outlined. and It is very difficult to hit all the things that you've seen the amount of work that's going on. So one of the things that I've really taken on board ah as a board member and now sitting as sorry sitting as chair is that there is power in numbers.
00:33:05
Speaker
what are we, 300 and something plus breweries as members? We've got 675 nationally. These are in every electorate in the country. We are a massive part of the foundations of communities.
00:33:18
Speaker
um'm I'm looking here today, we are in a small regional town. and the team from Bridge Road have put this event on. They've brought how much to the town? Just today, let alone tomorrow, when actually has the Harvest Festival. This is thriving part of the annual events that happen in Beechworth that comes from a small community brewery.
00:33:34
Speaker
Now, if you extrapolate that out, and I know there's not as many events like Hop Harvest annually, but if all of our members were to take action, go to their MPs, make noise, that will generate change.
00:33:48
Speaker
um Use the seal. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Because that's really what it is. It's awareness. It's awareness growing. But I mean, i did a little bit of work in the background a little while ago just to get ah a rough concept of ah from um just our members alone what our social media presence would be if we all posted directly. Now, if it's a little crossover there.
00:34:06
Speaker
But I think there was over 3 million followers just for indie brewers in this country alone on social media. You extrapolate that out, you put that on Facebook, you put that to non-indie members, you take that aboard, you push that out to your consumers, you get consumers making noise.
00:34:21
Speaker
You get them going to MPs, we will annoy them. We have done a really good job this year of annoying MPs and it works. They don't always want to hear it, but yet they are forced to. It is part of their deal.
00:34:32
Speaker
And honestly, I've sat down with so many in the past couple of years, they don't have perspective on the industry. That's the challenge that we face. We live and breathe this every day. We know these challenges.
00:34:43
Speaker
But it's amazing when you sit down with people and you explain it to them and their eyes open up, having absolutely no understanding. 90% plus of the market, we can't touch. We are dominated by foreign nationals and then by a market duopoly of retailers who are minimising our access.
00:34:59
Speaker
Yet we're bringing in 3.53 billion annually. We're employing over half the sector. These are amazing numbers, and it shows that what we're doing matters, but what we need to do is make that voice heard.
00:35:10
Speaker
So that's what I'm imploring members today. And and not just those in the room. like I would ask for you all. We're all friends of this industry. We're all in group chats. We all catch up with other breweries.
00:35:21
Speaker
speak to you Speak to your fellow mates, speak to other owners, speak to other brewers, get them involved, because that's what's going to make change here. and I go back to BrewCon in 2023, and Bob Peace, who was the ah president of the American Brewers Association, made a real note that the change happened with them when they got their members collectively as one to go and fight on Capitol Hill.
00:35:45
Speaker
Now, we don't necessarily have the exact same style here as what they do in America, thankfully, um but in reality, this is what we can do. That shows change. So from my perspective, you can take anything away today. it's understand the workload that's happening here, it's amazing. Like we are batting above our average, which I think is craft beer or independent beer in a nutshell.
00:36:07
Speaker
Every business here does more than their contemporary in major beer with a much smaller team typically. So if we can take that, we can move that through, we can empower ourselves, we can empower MPs and our consumers to have that conversation, we will see meaningful change.