Three Sisters Brewery founder Joe Emans wants to leave the Sunshine Brewing brands intact. Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ
By Robin Martin of RNZ
The sale of one of New Zealand’s oldest running independent craft breweries is a deal worth toasting, according to those close to the transaction.
Sunshine Brewing – including its iconic Gisborne Gold brand – has been sold, saving the multi-award-winning brewery from potential closure.
Taranaki’s Three Sisters Brewery is taking over its East Coast cousin – for an undisclosed sum – “with the intention of keeping Sunshine alive, keeping the taproom trading, and protecting the legacy Sunshine has built in Gisborne”.
Legend has it surfers Geoff “Lumpy” Logan and Gerry Maude came up with the idea for Sunshine Brewing while out catching waves in 1989, famously launching the lager Gisborne Gold – a 90s staple for uni students – in the process.
Current owner Martin Jakicevich and two mates, Mark Young and Peter Thorpe, bought Sunshine in 2013 and set about modernising it and creating a popular taproom.
Jakicevich had mixed feelings about letting it go.
“There’s been a lot of joy in getting the brand re-established and back on the map and talked about, so it’s sort of bittersweet to see it go, but at the same time I’m really pleased to see it go to a brewer and out there making some good beers and with a vision, so yeah, it is a bittersweet type thing.”
Jakicevich said he would miss the great staff at the brewery and those eureka moments only brewing could provide.
“I’ll certainly miss the smell of the brew in the morning there’s no doubt about that. Walking into that place when there’s a brew going on is fantastic.
“It always comes down to this ... when I try a new beer and the beer is fantastic that’s always been the best moments and we’ve had a few of them. That’s what I’ll miss, those moments of saying ‘we nailed it’.”
Three Sisters’ founder Joe Emans was a huge fan of Sunshine Brewing.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for Sunshine and what they’ve been doing. They’ve been going a long time – I think they are the oldest independent craft brewery in the country, particularly with Gisborne Gold, which is a really well distributed beer – and I think a lot of people have affection for that beer and we do, and I do particularly, so we want to keep that legacy going independently.”
Emans said Sunshine would be a good fit for Three Sisters which recently crowdfunded about $400,000 to expand its brewing capacity.
“We can immediately make use of that additional capacity that they’ve got, so that relieves our production constraints here in New Plymouth.
“We’ve been exporting to China and that’s partly why we’ve reached our production constraint and I’ve reached out to our distributor there and they’ve said they’d be keen to distribute Sunshine in China as well so there should be an immediate uptick from that.”
Emans said it was likely higher volume production for both brands would take place in Gisborne while New Plymouth would focus on small-batch seasonal beers.
“Our plan is simple: Sunshine stays Sunshine – a Gisborne brewery with its own identity – while Three Sisters provides the operational backbone and production capacity to support stability and growth.
Sunshine’s core brands and taproom would remain and Emans was hopeful of retaining key staff.
Michael Donaldson, publisher of craft beer magazine Pursuit of Hoppiness, said Sunshine Brewing’s owners had been looking for a sale and it was great that another craft brewer had come in for it.
“Look, Gisborne Gold is a hugely popular beer in the East Cape region, and Sunshine Brewery are an incredible local brewery, and they are New Zealand’s longest running independently owned craft brewery, so it’s a really vital part of the landscape.”
He said it was a significant step for Three Sisters.
“I can understand why someone would want to pick up Sunshine because their local strength is amazing plus they still have a presence in Wellington. You’ll find it on tap in a number of bars there, Gizzy Gold.
“Yeah, so it’s a bold move by Three Sisters and it sort of follows on from their expansion into Wellington recently where they opened a taproom. They’re a brewery on the up.”
Donaldson said Three Sisters’ innovative crowdfunding approach and exports to China – which made up about 30% of sales by volume – underpinned its success.
“It’s massive. China is a huge country but it’s also got a strong appetite for beer and so they’re getting unique products. New Zealand beers, a lot of them made with New Zealand hops and that New Zealand Inc story.
“Each one of these small breweries that is delivering export orders to China, it’s a drop in their beer ocean, but at this end it’s hugely significant.”
Drinkers in New Plymouth were excited about the move.
Wellington visitor Vincent gave it the thumbs up.
“I hope it saves Gizzy Gold because my friends and I drink it quite a bit, so if it could keep going that would be really good.”
He was familiar with Three Sisters also.
“I’ve been travelling for a bit, but one of my friends posted about Three Sisters opening up down there and we really like them at Beervarna so we’re quite excited about that.”
Andrew had dipped into the crowdfunding offer.
“I think it’s really amazing and Joe and the team have been very progressive in the way they’ve grown the business here and I think it’s going to be a great thing overall. They’re going to take care of the Sunshine legacy and do great things with it.”
Allan was not totally convinced.
“I’m not a great lager fan, but I’ve got a small shareholding from the last funding round, so yeah, it’s all good as far as that goes, but as far as the lager goes, I’m more of a hazy guy.”
Beer fans on both sides of the North Island should have easy access to both Sunshine Brewing and Three Sisters brands in a couple of months.
-RNZ