Philter Brewing has closed one of the largest equity crowdfunding raises of the year, achieving the biggest raise by a New South Wales business and the fourth largest equity crowdfunding raise of 2023.
Philter used its crowdfunding campaign as a call-to-arms for Australian consumers to get involved in safeguarding Australia's locally-owned and independent beer industry.
According to Philter, thousands of industry jobs are under threat from ‘the homogenisation of Australia’s beer culture’. Philter was recently awarded Champion NSW Brewery, and through its equity raise publicly campaigned against ‘beer giants attempting to muscle out independent craft beers from the nation’s pubs’.
Philter Brewing co-founder Stef Constantoulas said independent breweries employed more than half of Australia’s brewing jobs even though they only account for seven per cent of the nation’s annual sales.
It was this statistic that propelled Philter to launch a campaign to stay Australian-owned, using its position in the industry to shine a spotlight on ‘tap contracts’ that limit the presence of craft beers in pubs, while also exposing the grocery giants for their mass production of beers designed to look like craft beers.
Constantoulas said beer giants had a duopoly over the Australian marketplace.
“Together, Carlton United Breweries, which is owned by Japan’s Asahi, and Lion Nathan, owned by another Japanese powerhouse Kirin, account for approximately 80-85 per cent of sales in Australia – For decades these guys have been locking in long term exclusive contracts with pubs inhibiting independent beer from having a fair go.
“Australia’s beer culture has evolved greatly over the past 10 years with the vibrancy of craft beers, and that has got the big boys worried. When CUB and Lion Nathan buy out the independents, not only will jobs vanish, but profits will also be siphoned off overseas, rather than being spent in Australia,” said Constantoulas
Constantoulas added that this ‘hold on the market’ was leading to conformity and the rise of imitation craft beers.
“Diversity is important because these beer giants influence what you will be drinking – beers produced conform to their shareholder wishes, not to the wishes of the punters who want diversity and flavour. There are also a number of imitation craft beers available which creates confusion for consumers and clouds the concept of independence in the industry,” said Constantoulas.
As a participant in the Certified Independent Seal initiative, Philter Brewing has aligned itself with breweries championing independence. To display the seal, the brewery needs to be an IBA member, which means it has less than 20 per cent foreign ownership, and produces fewer than 40 million litres of beer each year.
Philter co-founder Mick Neil said now was the time to draw attention to these issues at parliament level.
“We just want a level playing field to continue doing what we love. Since we launched in 2017, Philter has been growing 43 per cent year on year, and have cracked $30m in sales revenue.
“We are proudly Australian owned, and we want to stay that way. The Birchal equity crowdfunding raise means we can stay Aussie owned rather than selling off to a foreign owned beer giant in order to grow, which would sadly affect the taste of our beer. And taste is what our customers value most,” said Neil.
