Brewers Guild of New Zealand are calling for the incoming Government to introduce an excise tax rebate as the those in alcohol industry are pummeled by rising costs.
It comes as Deep Creek Brewing becomes the latest company to go bust, marking the third high profile craft brewery to fail this year.
Brewers Guild of New Zealand chair and co-founder of Good George brewery Brian Watson told AM the industry is faced with a mountain of pressures.
"We've got a cost-of-living crisis, we've got the highest excise rate we've had in the last 30 years, we have Co2 costs, we have wage costs, we have raw materials costs and we have supermarkets which are taking a large portion of the margins, which brewers take," he said.
Watson said while demand for craft beer "is great", the sobering factor of rising costs are putting "a lot of pressure on our members".
He told AM Aotearoa is "the outlier" in the Western world, that doesn't have an excise rebate for small brewers.
"Particularly in Australia they have a government excise rebate that enables brewers to create jobs, create a vibrant industry and help the industry to be able to be successful."
Watson understood the role excise tax plays but said a rebate would ease the pressure and level the playing field in the industry.
"To be able to give us an excise rebate in line with what Australia does will be an awesome opportunity for New Zealand craft businesses and larger businesses," he said. "To be able to be successful in an industry which at the moment, like all industry, is quite tough."
However, Prime Minister-elect Christophor Luxon made it clear to AM on Wednesday morning there will be no help in the form of excise tax relief from the incoming Government.
"Sadly no," he said. "I mean, the bottom line is this excise tax is a feature of the system, has been for a long time. It increases every year by the amount of inflation, the real problem is this is a Labour Government that didn't manage inflation and these businesses are going to the wall.
"So, what we have to do is get inflation under control."
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