Lion has announced it will offer further assistance to the Sydney on-premise, following the four-week extension of lockdown in Greater Sydney.
There are 1136 Sydney on-premise customers affected by the lockdown and the brewer will be collecting and crediting unused kegs that meet the following criteria:
- Best before date of August 31, 2021 or earlier;
- Kegs must be full, untapped and with dust caps intact;
- Purchased direct from Lion from June 1, 2021 until June 25, 2021.
Lion Managing Director James Brindley said the latest outbreak was another devastating blow for an industry already on its knees.
“Beer is fresh and needs to be enjoyed within its short shelf life,” he said. “Our thoughts are with everyone in the hospitality industry across Greater Sydney, and the most important thing we can do is stick together and support one another.
“We hope this initiative will go some way to easing some of the unimaginable burden that many pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants will currently be facing. It truly feels like Groundhog Day.
“We never wanted to be in this situation again, after having had to tip the equivalent of 11 million schooners last year. Once again there will be a large volume of beer in kegs that will sadly never get to see a schooner.
“We’ve done this before, and we will get through it again, and we are committed to supporting pubs and clubs – the local venues that keep our communities connected – every step of the way.”
During the first national lockdown last year, which began on March 23, 2020, Lion was first to announce it would credit all on-premise venues for their unused, full, capped kegs.
This was the largest reverse logistics exercise the brewer had ever undertaken – and totalled about $30million in credits to venues.
Lion’s Draught Quality team also contacted on-premise customers to offer cleaning procedures for their draught beer systems to keep them in working order and ready for when the green light was given to open again last year. The team cleaned more than 10,000 couplers and taps while working from home.
Lion & Batch Brewing create beer to celebrate “Freedom Day”
Lion is joining forces with Marrickville craft brewer Batch Brewing Co to produce a special limited-edition beer to celebrate the day NSW meets its vaccine threshold.
Earlier this month ClubsNSW and Australia CEO Josh Landis called on the NSW Government to name the percentage of vaccinations needed to allow us to get back to normal life and pledged a free beer for anybody who has been fully vaccinated on this day.
The “Freedom Day” campaign is the brainchild of Landis and Co-Founder of Batch Brewing Co, Andrew Fineran, who came up with the idea during a catch up with mates over virtual drinks during this latest Sydney on-premise lockdown.
“We want to make sure that Australians never have to endure another COVID-19 lockdown again,” said Clubs CEO Josh Landis. “To do that, we need everyone to literally roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated — and what better way to encourage them than with a free beer at their local club!
“Clubs are all about supporting the health and wellbeing of their local communities, and we are so grateful to Lion and Batch Brewing Co for getting behind this campaign and helping clubs do what they do best.”
Categories: Business
