Already a subscriber?The country’s largest alcohol retailer removed a craft beer brand from its shelves after negotiations to buy out the brewer – which shares the Endeavour name with the $9.3 billion ASX-listed group – soured.
“We honoured contractual obligations and also provided considerable support to expand the presence of the Endeavour Brewing Co range across all Dan Murphy’s stores and more than 900 BWS stores for more than five years,” the company, which paid for one of the group’s trademarks, said. The Independent Brewers Association’s Kylie Lethbridge, who represents 425 small producers or 8 per cent of the beer market, said the sector was facing challenges of rising costs, the end of tax moratoriums and increasing sensitivity to higher shelf prices.Another issue was the major retailers’ push into production – she estimated Endeavour and Coles now owned about 5 per cent of the beer produced in Australia, and growing.
Endeavour Group stocks more than 1500 craft beers from more than 1000 brands, reflecting the craft beer expansion within the beer category. It did not quantify those made by independent producers.