A collaborative craft beer strategy will aim to grow WA’s craft beer sector, create jobs and promote the industry’s ‘paddock to pint’ tourism experience.

The new strategy will bring together all parts of the craft beer supply chain to drive forward a unified and sustainable industry.

The industry-led strategy aims to boost production, with the goal of tripling either the volume or value of locally produced beer over 10 years.

It also strives to improve supply chain integration, including the producers of homegrown barley, hops and malt, and local businesses that provide packaging, distribution and retail services.

WA is considered to be the birthplace of Australia’s craft beer sector, with the establishment of a handful of now iconic breweries in Perth in the 1980s and ‘90s.

There are now more than 120 breweries in the metropolitan area and regional WA, representing 20 per cent of the national industry.

Beer manufacturing contributed an estimated $648 million to the WA economy in 2020-21, directly supporting about 967 full-time jobs and indirectly supporting more than 4000 jobs across the State.

The five strategy priorities are industry leadership, brand awareness, market access and export opportunities, supply chain management and regulation.

A summary of the strategy can be viewed on websites of the industry bodies and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Warren-Blackwood MLA Jane Kelsbie said the strategy would ensure WA’s craft beer industry not only thrived but continued to innovate and grow.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development partnered with with the Independent Brewers Association, WA Brewers Association and South West Brewers Alliance to facilitate the strategy.

This article appeared in the  Denmark Bulletin, 15 August 2024.