Back in early April, we published a Postcard on the A Good Beer Always Helps campaign. Launched by the Good Beer Co, the aim was to donate four-packs from independent brewers to 10,000 essential workers.
Now, having already raised more than $52,000 – the equivalent of 2,600 four-packs for 10,000 essential workers – they've come up with a new way of ensuring the remaining 7,000-plus workers don't miss out. Through a partnership with Founders First, the "craft accelerator" with stakes in Jetty Road, Sauce Brewing, FogHorn, Ballistic, Slipstream and Sparkke plus other non-beer producers, they're selling A Good Beer Always Helps mixed cases in BWS and Dan Murphy’s stores across the country.
“During that campaign we registered 10,000 essential workers for a four-pack of local craft beer,” says Good Beer Co founder James Grugeon (pictured above). “We’re now able to say to them that we will be able to give them a four-pack, which is great.”
The idea to raise further funds through the cases came after the team at Sparkke – one of the breweries involved with the campaign from the start – introduced him to Founders First.
The packs are available at close to one thousand stores and include a beer each from the Founders First stable plus others from the likes of Newstead, Sobah, Van Dieman, Beerfarm, Stomping Ground, Moo Brew, Modus Operandi, Bright Brewery and Stone & Wood.
“It’s a fantastic case,” James says. “It’s supporting independent craft breweries and it’s saying thank you to people who really need to be thanked.”
The campaign has also been bolstered by advertising company oOh!media, which has donated $1.5 million worth of billboard space to help get the word out. James says the willingness of everyone involved shows how well the beer industry can rally, even when it continues to face an unwilling future.
“What we’re doing essentially is in the DNA of most craft brewers,” he says. “They want to support their local community and it’s a no-brainer to be able to say thanks to essential workers.”
James says over the course of the campaign, which was inspired by the One On Us campaign launched by Brewgooder in the UK, they’ve been receiving messages of thanks via email and social media.
“They really do appreciate the gift of beer and it just gives them a lift at a time when they really deserve one.”
As part of the #keepinglocalalive campaign we're running Postcards from the Edge stories, highlighting the ways in which people are adapting to survive. If you've got a story you think is suitable – or have something to add to the campaign resources online – get in get in touch.