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Tag: strangelove

  • Asahi Beverages to close Green Beacon brewery

    Asahi Beverages to close Green Beacon brewery

    Asahi Beverages will close its Green Beacon brewery’s operations in North Brisbane in around 10 weeks.

    The closure follows several years of “excellent growth” for Green Beacon, according to the company, and is part of a plan to ensure the company’s growth by boosting brewing capacity across various sites.

    Asahi Beverages will invest in Green Beacon’s original location at the Teneriffe brewpub to increase brewing capacity. The majority of Green Beacon brewing will be moved to Asahi Beverages’ other Fire & Earth Ventures locations in Australia, including Pirate Life in Port Adelaide and 4 Pines in Brookvale, NSW. These additional sites are equipped to handle Green Beacon’s continued expansion.

    The closing of Geebung will lead to the departure of three full-time and two casual employees. The remaining Geebung employees will be transferred to the Teneriffe microbrewery.

    “Geebung has been our home for more than six years and has driven much of our recent success,” said Green Beacon’s GM Richard Shrosbery.

    “However, we are experiencing significant growth and have now outgrown the site. Today’s announcement means Green Beacon can continue its growth trajectory by unlocking capacity constraints, which will help ensure we continue to get it to lovers of Green Beacon everywhere.”

    The company said it will assist employees affected by redundancy and is looking at replacement roles within the Asahi Beverages group.

    Last year, Asahi Beverages acquired Byron Ba premium mixer brand StrangeLove as consumer demand for better-for-you beverages grows.

  • Asahi Beverages buys premium mixer brand Strangelove

    Asahi Beverages buys premium mixer brand Strangelove

    Founded by mates James Bruce and Stafford Fox in 2013, the adult soft drink, premium mixer and mineral water business “set out to revolutionise the Australian soft drink market with eclectic, sophisticated flavours and local ingredients”.

    StrangeLove claims that it has more than doubled in volume and revenue in the last two years. The brand is now stocked by many of Australia’s “best” restaurants, high-end grocers and, more recently, premium Woolworths stores.

    Asahi Beverages Group CEO Robert Iervasi says it’s clear Australians want more sophisticated and lower-sugar soft drinks, fuelling demand for StrangeLove’s products in recent years.

    “We are really excited about the impact that StrangeLove is going to have in restaurants, cafes, hotels and pubs,” he says.

    “We expect StrangeLove to really shake things-up in the on-premise premium mixer and adult soft drink space, with a high-quality, Australian-made brand.

    “This deal will also strengthen our offer to retailers, which are dedicating more shelf-space to premium non-alcohol beverages. StrangeLove complements our leading portfolio of beverages, and we are absolutely thrilled to add StrangeLove to the Asahi Beverages family.”

    Mr Bruce says the deal represents an amazing opportunity to speed up StrangeLove’s mission to revolutionise the adult soft drink market with more imaginative and high-quality beverages.

    “With their FMCG-expertise and long-standing customer relationships in retail, hospitality and beyond, Asahi Beverages will help grow StrangeLove in a way we couldn’t on our own,” he says. “They share our absolute commitment to quality and we’ve been impressed by how they’ve supported their other craft partners to retain their unique identity and foster innovation.

    “The StrangeLove management team and I will remain in our roles at the business, and we’re excited and committed to its long-term growth. This means the acquisition won’t affect day-to-day operations and nothing will change for our customers and consumers.

    “We’ll continue to challenge the status quo with imaginative, innovative and adult flavours, using real ingredients sourced, where possible, from local farmers and producers.”