Dear Brewer
Brewers Guild of New Zealand
4th December 2006
Dear Brewer,
For sometime now, a group of us from the brewing industry have been working to establish the Brewers Guild of New Zealand (BGNZ). The purpose of this letter is to explain what the aims of The Guild are, and to encourage you to join.
BGNZ is an independent, non-profit making organisation with the aim of promoting the common interests of the members of the licensed brewing industry in New Zealand. Examples of how this could be done would be:
· Organising events (conferences, beer awards, beers shows etc) for the benefit of the members.
· Making available (to the media etc) a spokesperson who can promote the point of view of the members.
· Sharing/dissemination of information amongst members (website etc).
· Promoting the positive aspects of beer.
· Education of members through technical forums.
· Political lobbying and negotiating (excise duty etc).
· Collective Purchasing (production materials, media, events)
A brief history of the establishment of BGNZ follows:
31st July 2005 Meeting held in Wellington during BrewNZ where the idea of an association of brewers was raised. Number present 12
17th August 2005 Meeting held in Dunedin to continue to establish an association. Richard Emerson proposed as president. Number present 11
8th September 2006 Meeting held in Wellington during BrewNZ, committee elected, subject of the future of BrewNZ was discussed. Number present 32
The committee that was elected at the meeting in Wellington on 8th September comprises:
Richard Emerson, Chairman (Emersons Brewery)
Luke Nicholas, Vice Chairman (Epic Brewing Company)
Geoff Griggs, Secretary (Independent Beer Writer)
Martin Bennett, Treasurer (The Twisted Hop Brewery)
A meeting was held on 4th November 2006 in Christchurch, to which all breweries on the South Island were invited. 18 people were present representing 11 breweries and 2 suppliers to the industry. The constitution, which had been drafted by the committee, was debated and approved and the society therefore officially incorporated. It was decided that membership should be open to all breweries in New Zealand but to be of two types, Ordinary and Associate. Each brewery (legal entity producing beer) is entitled to have one nominated Ordinary member who has voting rights. Associate members may be anyone working in the industry or support services, associate members do not have voting rights. A copy of the minutes of that meeting and a copy of the constitution can be found on website www.brewersguild.org.nz
At the meeting 3 more committee members were elected
Craig Cooper (Limburg Beer Company)
David Cryer (Cryer Malt)
Doug Donelan (NZ Hops)
There is a long list above of objectives for The Guild. To achieve these will require considerable time, energy and finances. So rather than ‘bite off more than we can chew’ the committee’s recommendation is that for 2007 we should concentrate on the organisation of a beer event for the industry and the public. This event can be run so that the proceeds are held by BGNZ for future projects.
BrewNZ has been run in Wellington for 5 years and has become a popular and eagerly awaited event, both by the industry and members of the public. At the meeting held on 8th September at Regional Wines those present were asked by the previous organiser of BrewNZ if they would be interested in assuming ownership of the event, as it was unlikely that it would go ahead in 2007. The BGNZ committee is looking to you, the prospective members, for support. We feel that this is the way forward for a celebration of beer in this country and that all the New Zealand breweries should control the event in future.
It is the recommendation of the committee that the event should be re-branded and take on the name BeerNZ and that it should take a slightly different form to that of previous years. A resolution was passed to move ahead with BeerNZ and hold in Wellington in September, comprising beer judging and awards plus media and public events as briefly outlined below:
Thursday Sept 13 BGNZ Conference & Seminars / Workshop
BGNZ AGM
Brewer’s Night
Friday Sept 14 Awards Dinner
Media Meeting with Winners
Saturday Sept 15 Public Beer Festival
BGNZ is looking for support for such an event and invite all brewers to join the Guild, and by doing so, show a commitment to attend, contribute and even help to organise BeerNZ
The initial joining membership fee was discussed and voted upon at the Christchurch meeting and set at $100 for ordinary members and $20 for associate members. This is a nominal fee to get the Guild going, an annual subscription fee will be decided upon by the members once a budget for the coming year has been formed.
If you would like to become a member of the Brewers Guild of New Zealand please fill out the enclosed form and send, with membership fee, to Martin Bennett, c/o the Twisted Hop, PO Box 22-116, Christchurch New Zealand 8142
This is a huge milestone for brewing in New Zealand, and we hope that every brewery will join us in forming a society that will form a powerful voice conveying our enthusiasm and passion for all the great things beer brings to the public as well as the hospitality industry.
Richard Emerson
Chairman