DrinksBiz Podcast

The Imported Beer Report 2021 With all the challenges of 2020 and 2021 we talk to a number of beer importers in South Africa to find out what beers are available to the trade. One of my contacts who is active on the continent says there is a massive shortage of cans, the price of barley is up 30% and shipping is up 90%. How do importers deal with that scenario. Some, certainly have already stopped importing... Join me as we chat to our community members. Flare Beverages imports Erdinger, Paulaner, Bitburger and Royal Dutch. The trade can contact them on 021 905 8163 or admin@flarebev.co.za Belgsa Trading imports La Trappe, Palm, Rodenbach, Cornet and local belgian ale De Poes. info@belgsatrading.co.za Beverage People imports the iconic Pilsner Urquell and they have just launched the local Sxollie Cider in a can. The Fullers and Brew Dog range are no longer available. order@beveragepeople.co.za The Belgian Beer Company imports Duvel, Maredsous, Liefmans, La Chouffe, De Koninck, Kwak, Tripel Karmeliet, Vedett and they have just launched the Liefmans Fruitesse 0.0 Alcohol Free. The trade can contact them on 021 552 8656 or info@belgianbeercompany.co.za Nicholson Smith imports the and Union range from Germany. The trade can contact them on 011 496 2947 or jason@nicholsonsmith.co.za Global Beer Merchants imports the original Hofbräu München beers. Contact 082 061 7843 beers@globalbeermerchant.co.za Beverage Emporium imports Super Bock. 087 057 5450 or info@thebevemp.co.za The Cape Brewing Co imports a Pale Ale in a can as well as their Rekordelig Cider from Sweden. The trade can contact them 021 863 2270 or on info@capebrewing.co.za Singha is available, but it is imported by a Thai restaurant chain for their own outlets. Gerstel and Eichbaum are currently out of stock The Faxe range as well as Carlsberg from Denmark is no longer imported In Heineken's most significant acquisition since 2018, the worlds second largest brewer offers to buy South African Distell and Namibian Breweries.

Charles talks to us about his career with some of the top estates in the South African wine industry, about his experiences introducing South African wines to the export markets and about Darling where he now owns the popular Darling Wine Shop.A Podcast with Holger Meier

Hylton Smith was part of the team that first introduced Windhoek beers to the Botswana market, he then moved to Durban and joined Ian and Peter Hoyer at Team Liquor Distributors to head up sales of Windhoek beers. Hylton recalls only selling a truckload of Windhoek in their first year, but only a short four years later they sold an interlink of Windhoek beers per day during the peak season.Then in 2004, thinking that they were well on their way to becoming a real player in the liquor industry, Namibian Breweries announced the formation of Brandhouse, a joint venture with Heineken and Diageo.Hylton opted not to become part of the new corporation and joined former Windhoek colleagues Andre Homann and Craig MacKenzie in selling Bavaria beers.Andre Homann and a few former Windhoek guys then made an offer to purchase NMK Schulz from Norbert Schulz. NMK had the agency for Stella Artois, a brand which the beer guys hoped they could grow into a significant player in the local market.Hylton, now a shareholder, continued working at Team Liquor Distributors.When Ray Edwards started Tops at Spar the market started to change and in order to survive, distributors had to be able to service national chain stores.In 2016 Hylton took on new financial partners, with funds to open branches nationally they could now service national chains such as Pick n Pay.In 2018 Hylton was approached by Super Bock to distribute their beer in South Africa. At the time Super Bock was only available at the Liquor City stores. The brand was on a good growth trajectory, claiming to sell 15000 containers a year in Angola at the time.Super Bock is the leading beer brand in Portugal with a market share of more than 50% The Super Bock Group is a privately held company founded in 1890 based in Porto, Portugal.Hylton continues by sharing some interesting stories about his travels to Porto, their strategy with the brand and his journey so far. Well worth a listen!A Podcast with Holger Meier

Today’s Guest is Jason Neal, owner of the Gauteng-based drinks distributor, Nicholson Smith, and creator of award-winning brands like Pandora’s Box wine range. Jason “grew” up in the liquor industry following in his father’s footsteps, who was Mr Ballantines Whiskey at Hiram Walker and later successfully start exporting SAB beers during the Meyer Kahn era.Jason started working at The Cellars of Hyde Park when he was only 16 years old, Jason started working at The Cellars of Hyde Park when he was only 16 years old, thereafter he cut his entrepreneurial teeth with a Sorghum Breweries in Diepsloot. After selling the brewery, Jason joined Boetie Rietoff at Somerset Wines and then he helped Italian billionaire, Count Riccardo Agusta, owner of Grand Provance, launch La Vie De Luc Mineral Water which is now the No 1 on consumption water in South Africa.Nicholson Smith was started in 1997 to import Bowman’s whisky from the USA. Jason joined the company in 2005. After buying out the founding partners, Jason has been operating the business on his own since 2009. Nicholson Smith is now a complete drinks business, selling what the market demands.https://www.nicholsonsmith.co.za/Jason Neal is also the creator of the very successful Pandora’s Box wine range with the help of James Mckenzie, owner at Nabygelegen Private Cellar.https://www.nicholsonsmith.co.za/wines/itemlist/category/51-pandora-s-box

In 2016 Reinhardt Paulsen discovered gin and his restaurant, Carbon Bistro, soon became the top gin bar in the Capital. After exiting the bistro, Reinhardt started TheGinGuy.co.za an online gin and speciality spirits site, which lists about 180 gins. The most exciting recent addition is Procera gin which is made by Roger Jorgenson in Kenya.Reinhardt not only supplies gin fanatics, but he also offers a delivery service to other liquor retailers. In this episode, we learn more about Reinhardt's latest project, TheGinGuy.com. With this new site, he will be able to ship South African gins all over the world.

We reconnect with Simone Musgrave, innovative craft gin pioneer, at the recent launch of the Jasmine Jagger limited edition Musgrave 11 event at Hillcrest Tops. In this episode Simone shares how this colab came about and how she is reviving her brand which like most premium products has been badly affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns.Links: Find a link to our previous interview here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5AcXeHKeABqq6695siQdtqhttps://musgravespirits.comhttps://jasminejagger.comHillcrest Tops

In this episode, Rob Heyns shares the news that they have bought League of Beers, the popular craft beer subscription business, back from Yuppiechef.com.

In this episode, our guest is Craft Gin's favourite son, Glenn Bryant, co-owner of the Six Dog Distillery. Glenn shares their 5+ year journey with us. I have watched Glenn and his team closely over the last 5 years and love the way that these industry newcomers have focused on building relationships rather than rushing into outsourcing sales and distribution to third parties. A very good lesson for new brand owners. From sixdogs.co.za to sixdogs.comGlenn has always wanted to create a product that is good enough to become a global brand. Six Dogs is already exported to 23 markets. During the liquor lockdown in South Africa, Glenn realised just how vulnerable and exposed they are to the local market, and we are very excited to hear that Six Dogs has opened a European office in the Netherlands. Following the example of the many "European Swallows", Glenn plans to work in the Netherlands during the European summers and in Cape Town during the South African summer. We wish Glenn and the Six Dogs team all the best in this exciting new venture and trust that their work will also benefit the South African craft industry as a whole. This podcast is available on your favourite podcast app https://pod.link/drinksbiz or on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC04XKk_DwOg2sxsQ9XZUBGQ Visitors are welcome but by appointment only. Reach out to them here: https://sixdogs.com/contact/ A visit to the distillery may just change your opinion of craft gin. Directions: https://g.page/sixdogsdistillery Listen to the interview with Yvonne Bittmann-Steyn, distributor of South African craft gin in Germany: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kU6NrZENEDtVLvTzYvVQsYou can find more information about Luc Vannevel, the Belgian importer mentioned in the episode at https://www.elvama.be.The Six Dogs Gin collection includes: Six Dogs Karoo Gin, Six Dogs Blue Gin, Six Dogs Pinotage Stained Gin and Six Dogs Honey Lime Gin with plans to launch a few more. Gerrit Visser, is heading up the operation in Europe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerrit-visser-57606b46Follow the Six Dogs journey: https://www.facebook.com/sixdogsdistilleryhttps://www.instagram.com/sixdogsdistillery/

Carl Grossmann from Brackenhill Distillery in Waterfall, KwaZulu-Natal is our guest in this episode. I first met Carl when he was working on a project to import Malawi Gin. Carl fell in love with Malawi (Gin) when he was on an overland trip through that beautiful country. Malawi Gin is owned by a big conglomerate that did not want to grant exclusive distribution rights to anyone, so Carl moved on and now owns his own distillery.Carl uses ancient heritage grain varieties as a basis for their gin, vodka and whiskey. His packaging, logos and labels also reflect his local roots. Umzuzwane, or lemon bush, a small, fragrant plant gives the gin a local flavour.The distillery offers a very impressive gin making experience and also sells their products directly to the public. The distillery was recently featured on Inside Africa on CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2021/03/11/inside-africa-craft-alcohol-beer-liquor-spc.cnnhttps://www.brackenhillcraft.co.za/

Welcome to DrinksBiz Radio, a beverage industry podcast. Our guest is Elzette Marais owner and distiller of Majamela Distilleries in Polokwane. Polokwane is about 2 hours drive north of Tswane and about 2 hours drive from the Zimbabwe border. Polokwane is a thriving city that services the Limpopo province. Neels Marais started home distilling about 25 years ago. Recently his daughter Elzette caught the distilling bug and joined him in the little venture. Today Majemela is a fully licensed commercial distillery. The surrounding farmlands are very fertile and the father and daughter team distill whatever seasonal fruit they can get their hands on. Commercially they produce a range of gins as well as an alcoholic shake. This dairy-based ready-to-drink product is unique and definitely one of a kind in South Africa. Majamela is currently looking for distribution partners across South Africa. You can find more information at: https://www.facebook.com/flockingGin/https://www.facebook.com/MajamelaShakes/

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger Meier Today's guest is Ryan Williams the founder of Gydo.me. Gydo is a app the enables you to buy a frined a beer at his favourite brewery or winery.

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger MeierHolger visits the Mhoba Rum Distillery on the Greaves Family Farm near Malelane Mhoba is a farm to bottle, hand-made sugarcane rum made on the Greaves Family Farm near Malelane in the Lowveld.After trying to market and promote Mhoba in South Africa, the bulk of the Mhoba Rum is now exported to France. La Maison du Whisky, Mhoba’s partner is also the sole distributor of major whisky brands such as The Dalmore, Jura, Compass Box and Nikka.Listen to my podcast interview with Robert Greaves on Pocket Casts or your favourite Podcasting App. We talk about authentic rum and ponder about ways in which we could help retailers in South Africa sell more rum. Robert has a very interesting story and is a mine of knowledge. Well worth a listen.

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger Meier Holger visits Tanya Cruse at her new concept store, Gin & Co in the Casterbridge Centre in White River. Gin & Co is the home of Dollie Gin and Rottcher Winery. Gin & Co offers gin tastings as well as retail sales of local craft gin and rums.

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger MeierDario Scilipoti, the founder of Bluebird Coffee Roastery is our guest today.Bluebird Coffee Roastery was awarded the coveted Best New Roastery award at the prestigious FNB Coffee Magazine gala event recently.Dario talks about his journey and explains the technical aspects of roasting coffee. Coffee supply chain is very complicated and not very transparent. Dario hopes to change this.The way that coffee is being traded around the world is really unsustainable. Coffee is often traded at below the cost price. The commodity price of coffee has actually decrease over the last 20 years.As a roaster, Dario wants to support as supply chain that is sustainable.Dario explains that the big brands are masters of consistency whereas the specialy brands are masters at offering a flavour experiences.Dario explains: Third wave coffee - connecting the consumer directly with the coffee Gourmet Coffee - marketing term Specialty Coffee - rated at more 80 by Q-ratersBluebird Coffe is available at: Hillcrest Kwikspar Salt Rock Coffee company

Rob Heyns is back, and explains to us how he is helping retailers find interesting solutions for their problems. We talk about getting funding and raising capital. Rob shares his vision about creating a canning "ecosystem" for his latest business, the TinyKeg mobile canning business. Variety at a good price rather than quantity at a good price, is the motto! Watch Building A Brand: https://youtu.be/mxgOY2Ms-YI

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger MeierPodcasting time with John M Murray. John's long career in cider making has taken him to 83 countries around the world. John worked for HP Bulmer, once the world largest cider maker, for forty years. In the 1980's John opened a cider mill in Elgin and in the late 1990's he was part of the team that opened the Bulmer SA cider plant in Centurion (situated next to the old Bavaria Brau brewery).

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger MeierSean Wakeford one of Holger's oldest industry friends is a guest in this episode. We take a walk down memory lane, from the days at the Crossways Hotel to Bierfassl were he has just celebrated his 20th year anniversary. Stubbornly unique, makes it stand out and difficult to copy and difficult to compete. There must be a reason for people to visit your outlet. What makes your outlet unique. Next time you visit the Bierfassl ask for an Eisbein, a Erdinger Weissbier and a Kleiner Keiler or a merry mountain goat.Sean is always willing to try new ideas and believes in offering his customers something that they can treat themselves with. Sean reminded me our trip the Wartburger Hof and he tells me that I insisted that he had to Wartburg before he was qualified to open the Bierfasl.Both Sean and Holger turn 50 years old this year and are now official industry veterans.

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger MeierOur guest Alwyn Liebenberg studied transport economics at University and then worked in the distribution department of SAB Polokwane.Alwyn has a passion for port and wines. He has made many trips to Portugal and has worked at numerous distillers and wine businesses.Alwyn believes blending is the key to making great products and believes he learned this valuable lesson from the Portugese. Alwyn takes us on adventure of starting a bootstrapping wine and gin adventure.Alwyn sees himself as the Uber of winemaking. Alwayn shares with us how he started a a wine and gin business in the new “Uber” economy. He obviously refers to the new Sharing Economy which is the term used for the new economy where you don't own a farm, a warehouse a distillery.Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor http://lieben.wine/

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger Meier. The beverage industry does not have a formal association for business owners and industry professionals, making it hard to find information and making the right connections in the industry.Holger introduces the DrinksBiz community for business owners and and professionals and explains how this can add value to your business.For more information visit www.drinksbiz.co.za

A Beverage Industry Podcast with Holger MeierTo celebrate our wedding anniversary, we are reversing the mics and Brenda is in the studio to interview Holger. Join us to listen to Holger's story.