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The business will turn seven this year and now employs over 50 people, around 20 more than before the pandemic, and last year produced half a million litres of beer.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne to 10 million is still considered small,\u201d Renn Blackman says by way of comparison.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a target of 25 per cent growth annually.\u201d<\/p>\n
The label is now stocked in over 150 outlets and predominantly rests on a Geelong and Surf Coast market, but Blackman said he is eyeing greater Melbourne expansion.<\/p>\n
The shift to a Grovedale industrial warehouse now means around 80 per cent of the brewing is done there, the bulk of which goes to the wholesale market.<\/p>\n
The remainder continues to be made at the original Torquay brew bar and ends up in the taps there and at its Ocean Grove venue.<\/p>\n
Splitting the brew sites has also enabled the company to segregate its workforce so that if one team falls ill or is forced into isolation with COVID it doesn\u2019t take the other out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a big part of it, just keeping everyone separate,\u201d Blackman said of the move.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit of a challenge when we had facilities where everyone has been, hospitality staff, brew staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously not ideal, it would be good just to get back to some kind of normal, but who knows when that will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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BLACKMANS Brewery is still a small player in the beer world according to company founder, owner and head brewer Renn Blackman, but the business has growth plans and is proceeding despite pandemic pressures. \u201cWhen COVID hit we were forced to close our Torquay venue,\u201d he said. \u201cAs soon as we started doing food deliveries, beer […]<\/p>\n