72 | BREWING Garage Project From humble beginnings to global attention Carlos Bagrie at Royalburn. T T Kelly Deeks With a nod to its humble beginnings, brewing beer in what was an old service station in Wellington, Peter Gillespie and Jos Ruffell started Garage Project in 2011. With help from Pete’s brother Ian, the company has risen to become recognised internationally within the craft beer brewing sector as an adventurous, risk-taking company creating amazing brews year on year. Today, well beyond those pioneering years, the company has retained its sense of playfulness when it comes to making beer brews. CEO, Peter Fenton, says this characteristic of the business gives it its special character and is one of the reasons its gained the reputation it has. “Pete is our head brewer and an absolute magician when it comes to product innovation, creativity and an intuitive sense of what will work well. He and the team create around 80 new beers year on year, which is pretty phenomenal.” In fact when you consider that in its first 24 weeks of operation, the team created 24 beers, their creativity and passion speaks for itself. Proudly New Zealand’s largest independent brewery 14 years later from establishing, Garage Project regularly presents beer selections for judging on the international stage. Such has been their growth that in 2016, Garage Project was recognised as New Zealand’s fastest growing company. Case in point: At this years World Beer Cup, where only the best of the very best beer producers in the world can have any chance of receiving awards, Garage Project received Silver and Bronze medals. The Silver was awarded to a 2020 vintage Belgian-style sour ale ‘Chance, Luck & Magic’, while ‘Engeltjes Pis, another Belgian-style strong specialty ale received Bronze. “We were absolutely delighted to receive these accodales. The competition is incredibly tough.” Garage Sales has been exporting to Australia for many years now but in the last couple of years has expanded into lucrative markets such as China, Malaysia and Singapore, where there is a seemingly insatiable appetite for their beer. A dedicated sales person has been established in Singapore. Peter says he was brought into the fold to boost growth of overseas markets and create opportunities for discerning beer consumers to have access to their blends. It has been a challenging market for premium beer in New Zealand recently, however Peter believes that with recent Reserve Bank interest rates announcements, sales through into 2025 will begin to pick up pace here in New Zealand and in Australia. “The sun will come out again for sure. We’re also fortunate to have strong relationships with our suppliers and partners and we’re working hard together to navigate through this period.” Garage Project sells its products directly to its customers from its webstore and three physical locations – Aro Cellar Door and Tap Room, next to the original brewery in Aro Valley, at the Marion Street Wild Workshop Brewery and in Auckland, Kingsland Tap Room and Cellar Door. One thing the founders have done particularly well, Peter says, is to have formed close relationships with growers of hops here in New Zealand, where the quality is world-class. The business is engaged, in a joint venture with Freestyle Farms (a premium hops supplier) for a Primary Growth Partnership with MPI to support the hop growing sector through development of new hop varietals. “New Zealand hops are so good, they’re exported all around the world and this leaves us with wonderful opportunities to grow the story of our beers provenance, given New Zealand growers have, at their hearts and in their practices, great care of the environment and for the people working in the sector. Those are the values we promote intrinsically through our beers.” “Another example of the founders’ determination to seek out the very best of ingredients is our new partnership with Royalburn Station, the farm owned by Nadia Lim and husband Carlos Bagrie where they grow world class barley for malting for beer. The result of working together and celebrating the best of New Zealand ingredients is a very popular new beer called ‘Swifty’. For those not within easy reach of locations where Garage Project beers can be bought, the company’s on-line shop offers buyers an array of brews to choose from. Peter says his personal favourite is the option for buyers to join Fresh Club, a subscriber service which sends out new Fresh Hazy IPAs (Indian pale ale) each month to the buyers door. “That’s a great way to keep your fridge stocked with fresh hazy IPAs – with a brand new recipe and beer every month.” Garage Project Proudly supplying quality corrugated packaging to Packaging Central +64 6 367 6800 casectrl@ojifs.com ojifs.com Create the labels you want, with no compromise! 0800 425-223 | info@label.co.nz | www.label.co.nz PROUD TO SUPPORT GARAGE PROJECT Food and Beverage labels Beer labels Pharmaceutical labels Beauty Product labels Industrial labelling; or any other kind of labelling you might need 115 mm 200 mm Style 4 COPY Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 485 C PANTONE Knifeline Brewwell Ltd T/A Garage Project GARPRO901 115.000 x 200.000 mm 440ML COSMIC WAVE HAZY PALE ALE CAN LABEL 22-Apr-24 - 08:32:54 1200 MH 76MM
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