Hawkers have emerged from a period of voluntary administration with the same management structure in place after their proposal for a financial restructuring of the business was accepted unanimously by creditors.
The Reservoir-based operation become one of the largest brewing companies to enter administration in the current spate of VAs last month, citing the challenges facing small breweries post-COVID. As reported in a Good Food article highlighting the plight of the country's indie brewers, Hawkers' debts included $1.7m owed to the ATO.
In statement today in which brewery founder and managing director Mazen Hajjar thanked customers and supply partners for their support, he said their "restructuring proposal was unanimously approved", which indicates all creditors, including the ATO, approved the offer. Creditors will receive ten cents on the dollar under the DOCA (Deed of Company Arrangement).
Following the creditors' meeting, he told The Crafty Pint: "It puts us in a much healthier position in terms of having to deal with market challenges. It gives us a reset and the ability to start again.
"It doesn't take away the challenges – the fundamentals of the market still have to change to offer brewers more support [as] it's obviously not fair. But this gives us a chance to have a crack at it again.
"Market conditions have been so dynamic and have changed so quickly; this buys us time to put in place more of what we have been doing in terms of restructuring the business. And we feel quite confident that we're in a good space to have a good crack."
Mazen has been outspoken about the challenges facing the local beer world over the years, notably so in recent times. He opened his books for The Crafty Pint to highlight the impact of rising costs across the board last year, and has been one of the loudest voices calling for change when it comes to longstanding issues such as market access and excise tax. Such challenges were highlighted a few days ago on ABC Radio National.
Since Hawkers entered administration last month, we're aware of two other independent Australian brewing companies to follow suit: Big Shed in Adelaide and Golden West in Perth.
Media Release: Hawkers Beer emerges from administration after financial restructuring
Australian Brewers Guild Pty Ltd trading as “Hawkers Beer” (Hawkers) has successfully emerged from voluntary administration after creditors today approved a financial restructuring of the business.
Hawkers’ directors appointed DBA Reconstruction & Advisory as Administrator on 12 February 2024. This was a necessary step to deal with financial losses from a difficult period for the business, stemming from greater restrictions on market access and increased production costs.
Hawkers’ directors worked with the Administrator to develop a compelling Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) proposal to financially restructure the business, to ensure a stronger and more resilient operation moving forward. The Administrator recommended that creditors accept the DOCA proposal to provide the best outcome to creditors.
The DOCA was signed after the meeting of creditors today, so control of the business has reverted to Hawkers’ management, headed by Mazen Hajjar as Founder and Managing Director.
Mazen noted that under administration it’s been business as usual: “The administration process didn’t change the way we operated at all. Beer production and sales have not been impacted.”
Looking forward, Mazen added: “After a challenging period for the business, we are grateful that our restructuring proposal was unanimously approved. Through a challenging time for the business, we have been buoyed by the support of our customers and supply partners.”
“We are excited at the opportunities ahead and being able to continue writing the Hawkers story. We are confident the restructuring will ensure the business is in a stronger position to compete in challenging market conditions.”
Hawkers is one of Melbourne’s largest manufacturers and distributors of craft beers, based in Reservoir. Hawkers remains committed to producing quality beer for their customers and community.
James Smith launched The Crafty Pint in 2010, two years after moving to Australia from the UK. He was taken to Mountain Goat within weeks of landing in Melbourne, joined their indoor cricket team, and is still navigating the rabbit hole that is craft beer to this day.
The beers that turned you on to good beer:
- Watching pints of McEwan's 80 Shilling settle when visiting family in Edinburgh.
- Pints of flat Bass from the jug at the Cap & Stocking in Kegworth.
- A first Paulaner Hefeweizen when working in Munich in 1998: “This smells of bananas!”
- Castle Rock Harvest Pale – how could a 3.8 percent ABV beer be so good? (It turns out it was an early example of the three Cs – Cascade, Centennial and Columbus – in an English bitter).
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA poured through hops at the Sunset Grill in Cambridge, MA, in the company of a man who turned out to be the Beer Nut (while we were both covering a double murder case at the time).
- Ordering a Mountain Goat Hightail on my first day as an Aussie resident as it was local and I’d never heard of it; “A dark Australian beer; well I never…”
- Murray’s Icon 2IPA at Beer DeLuxe Fed Square, recommended by a guy I’d not long known who's now the main man at Fixation, served by Mik Halse, now head of sales at Hawkers. How could an Australian beer smell as good as that?!?
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Any really good, fresh and balanced West Coast style IPA. Punchy hop aromatics are the most obvious way to capture someone's attention and these IPAs, done well, present the key components in beer (if you're sticking to just water, malt, hops and yeast) in harmony yet with the volume turned up.
- Saison Dupont. Arguably a selfish choice here as I bloody love the broad saison style and dearly hope it will finally take hold in Australia one day. Given a choice, I'd probably crack one enlivened with Brettanomyces like Molly Rose Matilde for myself but, when it comes to turning on someone new, you've got to go with the classic.
- Rodenbach Caractère Rouge. Because if you don't enjoy or can't appreciate this beer, I'll never win you over. And because Filip, the fruit and wood specialist at Rodenbach that designed it, is a beautiful human.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Fixation IPA at The Incubator.
Three things that represent you:
- The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Golden Plains
NB All articles written by James in the first eight years of the site appear as By Crafty Pint. Today, that's used for collaborative efforts by the wider team.
