North Shore craft brewers Deep Creek have signed a national distribution agreement with Hancocks, which will see their range of innovative craft beers stocked in retailers throughout New Zealand.
Deep Creek is projecting a more than 70% increase in volume from March 2017 to March 2018, resulting in 600,000L of Deep Creek Beer being shipped out of the brewery. The size of the brewing team has also increased as well as production capacity which increased 67% from 2016 to 2017.
“We’re investing in our future”, says Deep Creek co-founder Jarred MacLachlan. “Due to recent successes both nationally and internationally we have a lot of people knocking on our door. The important step now is to ensure we can maximise these opportunities and compete with the big beer brands in the market.”
Deep Creek’s beer has a passionate following through their own brew pubs, selected retailers and on-premise accounts, particularly in the north of Auckland. The brand is stepping into another league as Hancocks rolls out Deep Creek brews nationwide into supermarkets, Liquorlands, Super Liquors and many other independent stores, showcasing Deep Creek to new and longstanding fans of their craft beer.
The agreement, which came into effect in March, is a huge step forward for Deep Creek with significant projected growth as Hancocks provides access to a huge network of beer retailers throughout New Zealand in both on premise and off premise venues.
MacLachlan is excited about the partnership and the new opportunity.
“It provides an incredible platform to showcase the brews that have been so successful in our brew pubs and at craft beer competitions, to a national market,” he says. “It is a great feeling to know that our beer is out there and lined up against other incredible NZ brewers. Our brewing team have worked really hard to establish our flavour-fuelled brews and it’s surreal to think that from our garage in 2010, our beers are now available in retail stores throughout New Zealand.”
In addition to making waves in New Zealand, Deep Creek have moved into Australia and have dramatically increased their profile there after being awarded the Champion Small International Brewery Trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA).
With a stellar 2017 ahead, Deep Creek continue to innovate their craft beer. Their project ranges – Lupulin Effect IPA, Steam Funk, Sour Beers and Nero Dark Beers – will release new brews throughout 2017, along with their special hop oil project released this month.
