As the founders of Stone & Wood Brewing Co, we have been blown away by the success of the business since establishing it nearlyseven years ago.We are great believers in keeping things simple and staying focussed on what is right for the many stakeholders in the business, including the team, our suppliers, customers and drinkers.Over the years we have beenconcentratingon building, and keeping up with, the demand ofour Stone & Wood beers.

We’ve had to leavea lot of demand go unmet over the years because we just haven’t been able to brew enough beer. We’ve also had to park a whole bunch of ideas and business opportunities to one side because we have been so focussed on building Stone & Wood Brewing Company into a sustainablebrewing business that the good people of the Northern Rivers are proud of.

With the expansion of the newStone & Wood brewery inMurwillumbah almost complete, and the long awaited changes to the Stone & Wood range of beers now finalised, we now have time to think about the future and revisit some of those ideas and opportunities that have been parked over the years.

With this in mind we have established an alternative business hubthat can incubate new products and businesses, andcan also invest in and support other start up or established drinks businesses. As part of the hub we will establisha sales and distribution business to provide a route to market for these products, and businesses, whilst alsoacting asan importer / distributorfor other drinks brands that are looking to bebe part of a focussed portfolio ofpremiumdrinksbrands. These will all operate independentlyfrom Stone & Wood Brewing Company, which willmaintain its focus on brewing and sellingthe Stone & Wood beers.

The first step in the creation of our new hub is establishingour sales and distribution business,Square Keg.

To help build and operate the businessGarry Hastings will be joining usas theManaging Partner / Director of Square Keg. Garry has extensive seniorexperience in workingwithbrand owners and distributors in his previous roles at, CUB, Tucker Seabrook, Grupo Modelo (Corona), and Anhueser Busch Inbev to buildsuccessful brands in theAustralian marketplace.

Square Keg will open for business in early to mid October and we will be in a position to announce the first products in it’s portfolio in the coming weeks.

It’s an exciting time to be in the liquorindustry in Australia, and wehave a strong team in place tocontinue the development and focus aroundStone & Wood Brewing Company. Our new hub will allow us to incubate some new businesses and products, and provide us with an investment vehicle which will allow us to reach out and get involved with some excitingopportunities.

Wecan’t wait to seeSquare Keg emerge and develop into asales anddistributionbusiness that represents a cluster of drinkable gems.