Pirate Life sells to AB InBev

[enoch]

I just ordered some direct from the brewery $110/slab + $10 shipping.

At $110 a slab they will need efficiencies. Even the craft beers at $80 must be a tough sell.

 

[Dan Pratt]

giving it some thought, Ballast Point got bought for a billion dollars, the beers they make are still excellent and I'm yet to notice any form of change to recipes since that happened.

side note, does anyone know how much PL went for?? Feral and Four Pines didnt release the sale prices either, what's up with that?

 

[SeeFar]

They will absolutely use cheaper ingredients and cut costs on that side, as well as the efficiency of scale they can now achieve.

I think you're mistakenly assuming that we are still the target market. With the full power of Ab InBev's marketing department behind them, they can water it all down and, with a slick marketing campaign, create a larger and more lucrative market of new-to-craft-beer-types-who-don't-know-any-better than they ever had previously as Pirate Life.

Totally good on them though, I hope they're sipping booze in a yacht as we speak.

Is there a silver lining here though?

Does having all of these craft companies being bought up by the corps - even if they are watered down somewhat - mean that there will still be a higher-quality stable of beers getting pushed out into the broader market, who will undoubtedly enjoy them and incedentally push up demand for quality beer over and above the usual swill? In short, will this trend lift the averrage standard of beer across the board as more people are introduced to 'craft style' beer?

 

[mongey]

As a fan of their beers I have mixed feelings about this

if the product stays consistent and continues to push boundaries with new beers and the price comes down , then great

but the cynic in me finds that doubtful

 

[Grott]

Is there a silver lining here though?

Does having all of these craft companies being bought up by the corps - even if they are watered down somewhat - mean that there will still be a higher-quality stable of beers getting pushed out into the broader market, who will undoubtedly enjoy them and incedentally push up demand for quality beer over and above the usual swill? In short, will this trend lift the averrage standard of beer across the board as more people are introduced to 'craft style' beer?

I’d say you may have a good point here. There are, will be craft brewers that will produce quality brews because that’s what they want to achieve and there will be those I suspect that will lift the quality (not just to compete) in the hope that they may be bought out for a tidy sum.

 

[Droopy Brew]

I think you're mistakenly assuming that we are still the target market. With the full power of Ab InBev's marketing department behind them, they can water it all down and, with a slick marketing campaign, create a larger and more lucrative market of new-to-craft-beer-types-who-don't-know-any-better than they ever had previously as Pirate Life.

Ok supposing that is the strategy. Why spend a shit load of money buying out a brewery with a large following of craft beer enthusiasts only to dumb it down, throw a lot of money at a marketing campaign to bring it into the vision of a new market, most of who know little about the brand whilst alienating the strong current market? Would seem a very high risk strategy.

It would make more financial sense to simply start up your own brand of dumbed down pale ales, market the shit out of that to the fence sitters.

Might as well make Yenda V2.0 rather than buy something out if that's the idea.

I know in the past these sorts of buy outs have resulted in a corresponding drop in quality, but I have the feeling that the multitude of buy outs of much loved high quality craft breweries in the past few months by the big boys is in recognition of the shift in consumers knowledge and appreciation of these types of beers in Oz. I reckon they are all trying to get a foot in the door and if one of them blinks (waters down the product) they will lose to the opposition.

I guess we will find out in a couple of years time.

 

[GalBrew]

Ok supposing that is the strategy. Why spend a shit load of money buying out a brewery with a large following of craft beer enthusiasts only to dumb it down, throw a lot of money at a marketing campaign to bring it into the vision of a new market, most of who know little about the brand whilst alienating the strong current market? Would seem a very high risk strategy.

It would make more financial sense to simply start up your own brand of dumbed down pale ales, market the shit out of that to the fence sitters.

Might as well make Yenda V2.0 rather than buy something out if that's the idea.

I know in the past these sorts of buy outs have resulted in a corresponding drop in quality, but I have the feeling that the multitude of buy outs of much loved high quality craft breweries in the past few months by the big boys is in recognition of the shift in consumers knowledge and appreciation of these types of beers in Oz. I reckon they are all trying to get a foot in the door and if one of them blinks (waters down the product) they will lose to the opposition.

I guess we will find out in a couple of years time.

I agree, it makes no sense to me to buy a brewery at the pointy end of the craft spectrum and then proceed to literally water down the product offering to reduce COGs. It makes more sense to keep the quality up and to drop the price, putting the squeeze on the independents that can't match price over the long run, wait for them to lose market share and go bust and then jack the price up to whatever the market will tolerate.

 

[pcqypcqy]

Ok supposing that is the strategy. Why spend a shit load of money buying out a brewery with a large following of craft beer enthusiasts only to dumb it down, throw a lot of money at a marketing campaign to bring it into the vision of a new market, most of who know little about the brand whilst alienating the strong current market? Would seem a very high risk strategy.

It would make more financial sense to simply start up your own brand of dumbed down pale ales, market the shit out of that to the fence sitters.

Might as well make Yenda V2.0 rather than buy something out if that's the idea.

I know in the past these sorts of buy outs have resulted in a corresponding drop in quality, but I have the feeling that the multitude of buy outs of much loved high quality craft breweries in the past few months by the big boys is in recognition of the shift in consumers knowledge and appreciation of these types of beers in Oz. I reckon they are all trying to get a foot in the door and if one of them blinks (waters down the product) they will lose to the opposition.

I guess we will find out in a couple of years time.

Because people know that Yenda is just some manufactured thing. I reckon the market knows the difference between that, and an actual existing craft beer label that has a history in the craft beer scene. And if ray don't, the marketing department will make sure they do.

For a giant corporation, marketing is nothing, and I dare say the current market reach of what pirate life can achieve is pitiful compared to even the smallest beer in AB InBev's portfolio.

So a reasonably cheap marketing campaign for a legit label with a decent history, a decent distribution/production deal, and away you go. Would shit all over Yenda overnight.

It doesn't matter whether the new drinkers of this beer miss the original or not, the true craft beer enthusiasts (like us here) are such a minute percentage if the market that if they can get a halfway decent product and market it to new people who don't know any different, they'll blow it wide open. And no one is going to listen to us saying that it's not as good as it used to be. We'll just be written off as hipsters.

That's my theory anyway.

Is there a silver lining here though?

Does having all of these craft companies being bought up by the corps - even if they are watered down somewhat - mean that there will still be a higher-quality stable of beers getting pushed out into the broader market, who will undoubtedly enjoy them and incedentally push up demand for quality beer over and above the usual swill? In short, will this trend lift the averrage standard of beer across the board as more people are introduced to 'craft style' beer?

One would hope so. I'm not against that in any way at all. Like Beersuit said, hopefully it'll assist in getting some half decent beer distributed further than the cap cities.

 

[laxation]

I feel like the purchase would initially be to keep the same good beer and recipes, using their market efficiencies where they can.

But over time, if there is constant pressure from up top to keep being profitable, it would result in maybe using a cheaper grain here, less hops there - until next thing you know the beer is completely different.

On the other hand, if the market efficiencies are enough for them to maintain enough profit, maybe they stay the course.

 

[Nullnvoid]

Could they be buying all these breweries so that in 5 years time they can close/stop making and therefore stick with the core range they currently have.

Sort of blue ant style I guess.

Expensive way of doing it I guess.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Remember years ago when there where small breweries everywhere and all sorts of different beers

Remember when they all got bought up by the bigger guys

History is a funny thing

 

[Grott]

Remember years ago when there where small breweries everywhere and all sorts of different beers

Remember when they all got bought up by the bigger guys

History is a funny thing

What happened to, was it Two Dogs alcohol lemonade. I remember it went berserk and was bought out for a large sum. Have not heard of it since.

 

[Yob]

If they make the changes slowly who is going to notice.

I already did... The Pale ale and the IIPA arent the same beers they once were..

Confirmed 2 weeks ago when I spoke to the Vic Rep, I had a taste of the Pale and picked it instantly

 

[lmccrone]

Inbev aren't silly, the public is developing a taste for quality beer and Pirate Life produce quality beer, if they change up the recipe then they wont be in the premium market anymore. TATA brought jaguar a few years back, they didn't start sticking a jag hood ornament on all their mass produced cheap cars did they?

 

[Droopy Brew]

Because people know that Yenda is just some manufactured thing. I reckon the market knows the difference between that, and an actual existing craft beer label that has a history in the craft beer scene. And if ray don't, the marketing department will make sure they do.

Thats right, the craft beer lovers know that, the fence sitters and "new to anything not megaswill drinkers" just think they are hipster as **** drinking "craft beer' .

Cheaper to manufacture a brand than buy one out for big bickies then water it down.

B

So a reasonably cheap marketing campaign for a legit label with a decent history, a decent distribution/production deal, and away you go. Would shit all over Yenda overnight.

Absolutely. A legit label with a good history and a keen following. Good marketing, distribution deal and it will do well for sure. Then turning it to shit will undo that good work- they have recognised the changing beer culture in Australia and know they need some top shelf in their stable to take advantage of the trend towards quality beers.

Look I have no doubt there will be some changes, almost all beers do due to supply of ingredient etc.- Yob has already noticed this prior to the buy out.
However I just dont see the business sense in what you are proposing that they will buy out a tip shelf beer to water down and flog off to craft beer beginners.
I think there is a misconception that the craft beer loving audience is a very select group. I think this market is rapidly expanding and these guys know it and are getting ahead of the game.

As I said, time will tell, its all speculation at the moment but I think the times they are a changing so history may not always be the best guide.

I hope so anyway- PLIIPA is da fickin shiz.

 

[SeeFar]

I think Pirate life already straddles the craft and general beer market as many do these days. You go into Dan Murphies, BWS and any number of bottlos not affiliated with Coles and you'll see Pirate Life, Feral and a few others. It's also already sold overseas. The craft and general markets have been overlapping for years now so I think there already is a lot of brand recognition and market penetration.

I agree that there's little point in buying out an operation and then changing its fundamentals when you can just crreate another Steamshovel or Yenda. However, I think the price point of PL will create a very difficult barrier for it to cross over greatly into the mainstream and I think even with scale it's going to be difficult to bring it down far enought to be able to sit on a tap next to Fat Yuk and compete for the big dollars.

Time will, as you say, tell the story. Fingers crossed, anyway as I love the IPA and Mosaic.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

The big guys just want to protect profits in what is a dwindling market (people are drinking less beer due to nanny state restrictions). Turdwaffle is about to find out what happens when you try and fudge the system to benefit the big players (unless he stacks the royal commission - which is exactly what he's trying to do).

 

[danestead]

This seems to be almost a weekly thing. Maybe Modus Operandi will be next week...

I'm bloody well hoping not; that's about the last independently owned brewery around. Id also take the money if it was offered but I too am worried these award winning breweries beers will have their recipes "tweaked".

 

[GalBrew]

I'm bloody well hoping not; that's about the last independently owned brewery around. Id also take the money if it was offered but I too am worried these award winning breweries beers will have their recipes "tweaked".

There are still 400 odd left according to the IBA.

 

[manticle]

Buckleys is still independent.