Good Drinks’ Gage Roads Fremantle brewery has been cited as a success in the company’s FY22 results, while Pirate Life has added two new venues to its Perth operations.
Described in Good Drinks’ results as a ‘spiritual home’ for the Gage Roads brand, the Fremantle venue has provided $1.5m in EBITDA in its first six months, minus $500,000 in one-off start-up costs.
According to Good Drinks, this early performance indicates the potential for more than $3m in EBITDA per annum. The venue was also highlighted as a key element of the company’s ‘Awareness’ marketing pillar.
The success of the Fremantle venue was joined by a return to health for Good Drinks’ Atomic Redfern brewery taphouse, and profitable operations for the Matso’s Brewery in Queensland. The latter venue has also been earmarked for redevelopment into an ‘exciting Matso’s experience in FY23’.
In all, these venues have helped Good Drink’s to record a company-wide EBITDA of $8.4m.
Meanwhile, in a sign of confidence in the venue format, South Australian brewery Pirate Life is expanding its hospitality operations in Perth, with the crowning achievement a large brewpub in the city’s CBD. The brewery will also be adding two more spaces, named ‘CRUSH’ and ‘honey’.
The venue was created through a partnership between WA hospitality group, Sneakers & Jeans (S&J) and Pirate Life founders Michael Cameron, Jack Cameron and Jared Proudfoot.
In a statement, S&J outlined that the Pirate Life brewpub was ‘the most significant investment S&J has made’.
“This has been the biggest project I’ve taken on in terms of its scale, cost and the unexpected challenges that a pandemic brought with it along the way,” says S&J CEO, Andy Freeman.
“We decided early to meet the challenge head on and with passion, because the importance of this project goes beyond the venue itself. This became even more evident when the impact of COVID became clear.
“Rather than cutting corners, we instead reinvested heavily into ensuring this is an even brighter, more impressive space that draws people to the CBD and gets punters excited about what the west-end has to offer,” Freeman continues.
Jack Cameron illustrated that the venue was the result of a long period of shared development with S&J.
“To say we’ve had a few curveballs is putting it lightly! But four years later, she’s finally here – and we couldn’t be more pumped, or prouder of what the team have achieved here in Perth, right in the heart of the CBD,” Jack Cameron says.
Freeman also illustrates how the new venues have been received by Perth’s hospitality community, saying that S&J had received more than 150 applications for vacancies when it first began advertising last month.
“S&J has always maintained a strong focus on our people, as we understand that attracting new staff is one thing – but we also acknowledge their value and ensure they feel part of the team’s growth to ensure we retain them in the long-term” Freeman says.
“We’re starting to see the benefits of our continuing investment in both our people and culture be reflected in our recruitment success, despite the very challenging environment out there.
“It makes us really proud, that we’ve created something people want to be a part of in the S&J and Pirate Life Perth brands – and the exciting journey ahead.
“It was never going to be just a brewery that’s not the S&J or Pirate Life way,” Freeman adds, before concluding: “Pirate Life Perth is one of my proudest achievements.”
‘CRUSH’ and ‘honey’ are both set to open at 8pm on 8 September. ‘CRUSH’ is a 60s and 70s inspired Californian-Mexican themed bar and restaurant. ‘honey’ pays homage to Caribbean cuisine, with a dozen beer taps and a strong focus on dark spirits cocktails.