New research published by the Brewers Association of Australia shows how brewing benefits Australia’s economy, local communities and particularly farmers, contributing $16 billion annually to Australia’s economy and supporting nearly 100,000 full time equivalent (FTE) jobs.
“Australians overwhelmingly drink beer brewed in Australia made with Australian ingredients sourced from Aussie farms. These new figures released today show that Australian brewers sourced almost $500 million worth of barley and hops from farms across Australia,” CEO of the Brewers Association, John Preston said.
“This production supported almost 3000 FTE jobs in the agriculture sector. With more of our larger brewers now buying direct from the farm the link between our farming sector and brewing has never been stronger.
“We all recognise the role that enjoying a beer plays in Australia’s culture but the report we are publishing today shows the true scale of brewing’s importance for our economy and communities and the significant shift that Australians have made to mid-strength beer consumption.”
The research was conducted by ACIL Allen for the Brewers Association of Australia and its findings underpin the Brewers Association report published in November, Australian Brewing: Our Economic and Social Contribution.
The report also shows that Australians still love a beer, drinking the equivalent of just over 2.5 billion pints of domestically produced and retailed beer in 2020-21 with a total retail value of around $17 billion a year. Australians are also embracing responsible consumption with mid-strength beer consumption having increased 130 per cent over the past 25 years.
One of the key conclusions of this report is the importance of the partnership between Australia’s brewers and the Australian farming sector. Australia’s brewers source over one million tonnes of malting barley from Australian farmers every year and Australian hops are an internationally renowned product with growers in Tasmania and Victoria producing over 1600 metric tonnes a year.
“Australia farms produce the best barley and hops in the world and these are the key ingredients for Australian brewed beer,” National Farmers Federation chief executive officer, Tony Mahar said.
“With Australian brewers sourcing nearly $500 million of ingredients from Australian farmers we also want to recognise the strong link between brewers and farmers.”
