Two of the UK’s pre-eminent craft brewers, Fourpure Brewing Co. and Magic Rock Brewing are coming together under a world-class banner of breweries that include Australia’s Little Creatures, New Zealand’s Panhead and most recently New Belgium Brewing out of the US.
London’s Bermondsey-based Fourpure and Huddersfield-based Magic Rock will be leading the charge for Lion Australia’s global craft arm, Little World Beverages.
The newly created arm of the Australian brewing business will be spearheaded by Lion’s Gordon Treanor. With more than 20 years’ experience in beer, most recently heading up Lion’s craft portfolio in Australia, Treanor brings a wealth of knowledge from the dynamic Antipodean market that he hopes will translate well to the rapidly growing UK craft sector.
Both Magic Rock and Fourpure are coming off the back of strong growth in 2019, with national distribution through leading retailers and a strong portfolio of core and seasonal products. The pair have been at the forefront of the craft beer scene since 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Treanor sees this as an incredible opportunity to capitalise on his existing experience, applying knowledge of the global craft sector to the unique market that is the UK. He states “Little World Beverages offers a strong portfolio of global brands and we’re excited by the opportunity in the UK market. 2019 saw us launch some top quality beers and open new venues across Fourpure, Magic Rock and Little Creatures. The recent acquisition of New Belgium Brewing in the US has the whole team excited as to what potential learnings can be shared across our brewing estate.
Treanor continues: “We have plans for growth in the pipeline outside of both Australia and New Zealand where we have been the number one craft brewer in both these markets for some time. Our significant investment in Fourpure, Magic Rock and now New Belgium Brewing demonstrates our commitment to craft for the long run and we are very excited about the road ahead here in the UK and Europe.”
In the pipeline for 2020 is a brewery expansion for Magic Rock, two new core product releases for Fourpure and some interesting collaborative projects with partners across the UK, Europe and US.