Australia: Brewing industry contributes about A$16 bln to Australia’s economy

New research published by the Brewers Association of Australia shows how brewing benefits Australia’s economy to the tune of A$16 billion, Farming Ahead reported on November 17

The research shows the brewing industry benefits local communities and particularly farmers, supporting nearly 100,000 full time equivalent (FTE) jobs.

Chief executive officer of the Brewers Association, John Preston, said: "Today is National Agriculture Day and as we celebrate Aussie farmers this new report shows just how important brewing is for our agricultural sector.

"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 A$500 million worth of barley and hops from farms across Australia," 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."

The research was conducted by ACIL Allen for the Brewers Association of Australia and its findings underpin the Brewers Association report published today, 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 (570ml per pint except in South Australia where a schooner is 425ml) of domestically-produced and retailed beer in 2020-21 with a total retail value of around A$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 1,000,000 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.

Tony Mahar, chief executive officer, National Farmers' Federation, said: "National Agriculture Day is a great opportunity to celebrate just how important Aussie farmers are for our beer industry."

John Bennett, a farmer from the Wimmera region of Victoria, who supplies the beer industry said: "You can't have great Aussie beer without great Aussie barley. Brewing is a vital industry for farmers and the connection between barley farmers and Australian brewing is stronger than ever."

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