Published on the 21/11/2016 | Written by Anthony Caruana

The industry is changing for the better with ‘beer as a service’…

The days of market domination by large brewers are coming to an end with boutique and micro-breweries popping up all over the place to cater for the refined tastes of unique bearded men and other discerning types. The challenge (apparently) is getting your laughing gear around a favoured brew when the maker is on the other side of town or the country with just one outlet.

So, here’s the solution. BoozeBud is an Aussie startup that has as its lofty goal bringing brewers and beer drinkers together.

Andy Williamson, BoozeBud co-founder, said “The idea came about when we went looking and couldn’t find our favourite craft beers. The current alcohol supply chain simply hasn’t evolved to deal with the changing landscape and that’s what we’ve sought to revolutionise. The idea behind BoozeBud was to create an online alcohol marketplace that offered equal, equivalent access to all producers – big and small – and consumers with a comprehensive range, many times bigger than any bottle shop can hold, at the lowest prices.”

For smaller brands in any market (New Zealand too is overrun by craft breweries and people drinking the stuff like wine), it can be challenging to get products on the shelves of large retail chains, which are typically dominated by established brands with huge marketing budgets. Not with online marketplace BoozeBud, which, said Williamson, “provides a way for producers of all sizes to market and distribute their products around the country, and for consumers to access every product in one place.”

Williamson said the aim was to create an online version of a cellar-door experience. The brewers can describe their background, inspirations and the process they go through to create their amber nectar.

Once customers choose their preferred ale, they can order online and then sit back, waiting for their favourite beverage to arrive.

“We also have a national logistics network underpinning the platform, allowing us to deliver to anyone across the country,” added Williamson.

There are no indications that BoozeBud will cross the Tasman any time soon, nor indeed, that an online network to connect the makers and drinkers of poofy craft beers is even necessary.

Despite that, the temptation is to call BoozeBud the “Uber of beer” (with the notable exception that just one is worth billions of dollars) but the two businesses are apparently quite different. Williamson said, “Like a traditional retailer, we purchase stock at a wholesale price and sell it at retail price. We commit to having the lowest price on every single product every single day. Unlike a physical store, we don’t have the fixed overheads that we need to support by charging higher prices.”

And if you think it’s all mellow fruitfulness and jolly-faced caperings down the ale-house, check that thought. Williamson asserted that BoozeBud, despite the provocative name, is “a technology business first and foremost”. Cheers to that.