Sydney’s Akasha Brewing Company has become the latest craft brewer to enter into voluntary administration, with the directors appointing Henry McKenna of Vincents as administrator on Wednesday.
The directors of Akasha have made the decision to enter administration to deal with financial losses due to declining consumer demand amid a climate of rising production costs and excise tax. They remain confident that the financial restructure will result in a more resilient business following the administration period.
Founder and CEO, Dave Padden, said he is proud of the efforts of the Akasha team during this difficult economic period.
“Our entire team have worked hard building a highly successful and respected brewery over the last nine years; however, the past 12 months has been extremely challenging for our industry and the wider economy. Whilst we felt this step was necessary to ensure the future success of the brewery, it was a very difficult decision to make. If you’re a fan of our beers, we’d really appreciate your support during this time,” he said.
The brewery will continue to trade as normal as the administrator works closely with the directors on an operational restructure of the company and coming to terms with creditors. Akasha encourages employees, suppliers and customers to consider it business as usual during this period, and there will be no impact to ongoing production, distribution and taproom operations as a result of this appointment.
In addition, this appointment does not involve Akasha’s venues, The Barrel Room and The Edwards.
The administration process is estimated to last seven weeks, during which time the administrator will be reporting regularly to creditors regarding the financial circumstances of the brewery.