CCA buys craft beer maker Feral Brewing

Coca-Cola Amatil has boosted its presence in the craft beer market by acquiring West Australian craft brewer Feral Brewing Company

A tasting rack at Feral Brewing Company

A tasting rack at the WA brewery of Feral Brewing, which has been acquired by Coca-Cola Amatil. (AAP)

Beverages giant .

Feral was founded in 2002 as a family-owned independent brewery in WA's Swan Valley producing the brands Feral Brewing Co, Perth Local Lager and Brewpub Series.

Feral Brewing produces about 7.2 million litres of beer per year.

"We have acquired them in the interests of enabling them to distribute their products more widely around Australia," a Coca-Cola Amatil spokesman said on Thursday.

"The approach was from them rather than us, but we're very happy to be part of it."

The CCA spokesman said while CCA had a very mature presence in the sparkling beverages sector, it is a relatively young player in the beer market, particularly in the craft beer sector.

"In the craft space we are principally involved with Yenda, which is at a different point in the craft beer market than Feral," he said.

"This (Feral) is a high-end craft beer and that's an expansion for us (CCA) into a relatively new space."

Yenda is a craft beer produced by Australian Beer Co - a joint venture between CCA and the winemaking Casella family business famous for the Yellowtail brand.

CCA has not disclosed the price it paid for Feral and said it does not intend to make any changes to the Feral Brewing business.

The soft drink giant said Feral will continue to produce the same beers, be operated in the same manner as it is now, and under the same management.

In a statement released on Feral's Facebook page, Feral Brewing founder Brendan Vardis said his company needed support from the likes of CCA to expand.

"Making innovative premium quality beers that are well executed and have high drinkability is what the team here loves to do and what consumers admire most about us," Mr Vardis said.

"But a growing business is a hungry one.

"We have a lot of future plans for the business which, if Feral needed to rely on my personal balance sheet to fund, would take years to execute."

Mr Vardis said that under CCA, Feral Brewing will be able to expand its innovation program and access a distribution network that will put its beers in front of thousands more craft beer consumers.


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Source: AAP


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CCA buys craft beer maker Feral Brewing | SBS News