Coopers Brewery says ongoing innovation, technical excellence and a commitment to staff professional development have enabled the company to remain relevant in the face of increased competition at a local and international level.
Coopers won the Family Business Award of Excellence at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards held in Sydney on October 31st.
Managing Director and Chief Brewer, Dr Tim Cooper, said Coopers’ commitment to innovation had been evident throughout the company’s 157-year history and had been particularly apparent since the company built a new brewery at Regency Park in 2001.
“The new brewery has enabled us to expand from South Australia to become Australia’s largest independent brewer to nearly 5% of the national beer market,” he said.
“During the past 25 years, we have automated and delivered substantial productivity improvements estimated to exceed 500% in terms of the number of cartons produced per operator.
“We have also innovated with new products, such as our recently released XPA, Session Ale and Coopers Dry which are exemplars of their particular beer styles.
“Our recent move to package ales in cans is another example of innovation and helping meet consumer demand.“
Dr Cooper said the recent development of a $68 million malting plant at the Regency Park brewery site had further underlined Coopers’ commitment to excellence.
“The maltings has given Coopers full control of one of its key ingredients, malt, and is helping our team of world class brewers to experiment and innovate,” he said.
In March this year, the maltings was named equal best maltster in the world at an international award presentation in Poland. An international jury drawn from members of the global brewing supply chain named Coopers and The Swaen in the Netherlands as the Maltsters of the Year 2019 at the World Barley, Malt and Beer Conference.
“Coopers is also a company committed to the professional development of its staff. Just last month seven of our staff from varying areas of the brewery gained Diploma of Brewing qualifications from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, an International body based in the UK.
“This brings the number of qualified brewers at Coopers to 13, making it arguably the most technically qualified brewery in Australia per litre of beer produced.”
Dr Cooper said Coopers was currently managed by members of the fifth generation and had a well-developed succession strategy for the future.
This required individuals to develop a career outside the brewery before being considered to join Coopers.
“In recent years, we have seen members of the sixth generation join the brewery, with Andrew Cooper joining the company in Melbourne in 2017 and Louise Cooper commencing in Adelaide earlier this year,” he said.
“We think the future looks bright.”