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As a sign of traction for its brands with awareness aided by destination brewpub venues in Western Australia and Queensland, Perth-based craft brewer Good Drinks Australia (ASX: GDA) outperformed the national beer market by 13 percentage points in the September quarter.
The company, known for its Gage Roads, Matso’s, Alby and Hello Sunshine brands, saw 9 per cent volume growth for the period, in contrast to a 4 per cent overall decline in the retail beer market.
The difference is more pronounced when excluding for sales of Good Drinks' partner brands business including Miller Chill, Coors and San Miguel, which recorded a 3 per cent decline in volume and comprise more than a third of the volume sold.
Within the partner division, Good Drinks' movement of Magners was up 35 per cent, which it claims makes it the fastest growing cider in the category. The group will also start distribution of Rekorderlig Cider this quarter.
Own brand volume rose 12 per cent to 3.44 million litres despite the $4.5 million write-down and divestment of the Atomic Redfern venue in Sydney during the quarter, as the alcoholic ginger beer and mango beer brand Matso's witnessed "outstanding" 29 per cent volume growth.
The Matso's Sunshine Coast venue in Eumundi, opened at the start of 2024, has been credited as a key driver of sales growth for Good Drinks' own brands in the strategic Queensland market where volume is up 34 per cent year-on-year.
Good Drinks claims the venue, the second focused on Matso's after the original in Broome, continues to trade profitably and in line with the company's expectations. Matso's was acquired in 2018 by Good Drinks, known as Gage Roads at the time, for $13.25 million.
The group claims that both Matso's Ginger Beer and Gage Roads' Single Fin remain the leading independent brands in their respective categories. Its flagship venue Gage Road Fremantle continues to trade strongly year-on-year, "delivering a powerful consumer experience and generating a loyal customer base".
Good Drinks claims the waterfront Fremantle venue, situated a couple of sheds up from the station for ferries to Rottnest Island, has established itself as a must-visit tourist attraction in Western Australia, introducing the brand to new consumers from interstate and overseas.
During FY25 the group will look to invest around $500,000 in venue refreshment and upgrades.
"This has been another strong performance by Good Drinks, with excellent growth results being a validation of our market share strategy," says managing director John Hoedemaker.
"To continue to achieve substantial volume sales growth against a backdrop of overall market decline, demonstrates the effectiveness of this strategy and the strength of the company's brands.
"The company views increasing market share through accelerated investment in the marketing of the company's own brands, as a key driver of shareholder value, and we will continue to build on the success of the strategy so far."
On-premise volume was up 15 per cent, compared to 14 per cent growth with Endeavour Group (ASX: EDV) stores, 18 per cent at stores owned by Coles Group (ASX: COL), and 9 per cent at independent retailers.
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