Shop local: How a Marlborough craft beer company is thriving among the vines

Wednesday, 11 December 2019

Moa brewery's beer tasting ambassador Peter Jenner, front, with from left, Stephen Turner, Matieo Stopigla, Myriam El Takriti, and Ruth Sheehan.

It sounds like a perfect job, in a perfect spot.

Peter Jenner is Moa Brewing Company's cellar door manager. But, he says with a smile, 'I actually have a glorious title which is the beer tasting ambassador, which ultimately means I'm the face and we are trying to represent our company here with an experience - it's not just about beer.'

It's an experience which is obviously working, as the brewery set in prime vineyard country has won Stuff's Marlborough regional shop local campaign.

The brewery was founded in 2003 by winemaker Josh Scott who saw a market in Blenheim for craft beer after an overseas trip convinced him that Kiwis were missing out on some good drops.

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Jenner said the brewery paid homage to its location with some wine infused beers and the use of wine yeasts, 'so there's still a little bit of culture of wine and our roots here in Marlborough'.

Scott sold the company to Geoff Ross, who floated Moa on the stock exchange and turned it into a publicly listed company.

Some of the Moa beers stay true to Marlborough's wine heritage, using wine yeasts, magnums and corks.

From there, the cellar door opened at the Jacksons Rd site and today it draws locals and tourists.

Jenner said the cellar door had become one of the more profitable parts of the business.

'When this opened there wasn't much in terms of infrastructure, but it's grown massively in recent years,' Jenner said.

A lot of work has been done to market Moa's cellar door, which has become one of the more profitable parts of the business.

Between the food truck serving burgers and potato chunks and craft beer on tap - it's hitting a niche, he said.

'We have a tourism market and a real allegiance to the region - and a massive following locally, so we are constantly trying to provide excellent service - good food, good booze and a really good experience.

'The locals are a big part of it, without them we'd be nothing, it's paramount to us.

'I've seen a change in customers' perception of eating, people don't want to sit down in stuffy, boring environments any more.'

He said winter trade mainly involved the locals, while in summer tourists were a large part of their market.

Jenner said Wine Marlborough and Tourism Marlborough had done a good job of promoting Marlborough and Moa had reaped the benefits, but they had also done a lot of work themselves.

He said the company had made a lot of movement recently in terms of their strategy and marketing.

'It's about getting thirsty when you've finished mowing the lawns, having a drink and socialising.

'It's a very Kiwi company, enjoying the outdoors and the like.'