Mighty Craft has announced it’s signed a binding Term Sheet with the Heineken-owned DB Breweries and the Better Beer Company to distribute Better Beer in New Zealand.
Phase one of the deal will involve New Zealand-bound Better Beer being brewed in Australia and on Kiwi shelves by October but the eventual plan will involve local manufacturing by DB by the first quarter of next year.
The Better Beer Company was launched in partnership last year by Australian social media personalities Matt Ford and Jack Steele from The Inspired Unemployed and the Torquay Beverage Company which Mighty Craft is the majority owner of. It’s gone on to sell millions of litres since and resulted in it being the Endeavour Group’s – owners of Dan Murphy’s and BWS – biggest new beer brand launch since 2014. It originally launched with a single, low carbohydrate 4.2% release but has gone on to add a 4.0% ginger beer and most recently a <0.5% non-alcoholic beer.
Mighty Craft’s managing director Mark Haysman said in a statement: “New Zealand offers us an incredible opportunity to grow the Better Beer brand on an international scale. It is a large beer market with approximately 298 million litres sold annually.
“DB Breweries has extensive sales, distribution, and brand building capability and owns some of the most iconic beer brands in the country, including Heineken. We are thrilled to be working with such a talented team that share our excitement about the potential of Better Beer.
“We also think this deal reinforces the massive achievement of the Better Beer team in launching its ground-breaking brands into Australia.
“Matt, Jack, Nick (Cogger) and the entire Better Beer team are to be commended for leveraging this success by launching into the New Zealand market.”
DB’s managing director Matt Wilson added: “We are very excited about the potential of Better Beer in New Zealand. The brand taps into numerous key consumer trends in New Zealand and we are impressed with what the brand has achieved in Australia in such a short space of time”.