Wayward Brewing is in administration with $2 million of debt and its founder has warned it’s unlikely to be the last craft brewer to hit financial trouble.
Peter Philip, who founded the Wayward brand in 2012, put the business into voluntary administration on January 2.
It owes around $2 million in debts to trade creditors, statutory creditors such as the Australian Taxation Office, and to shareholders who have loaned money to the ailing business.
The brewery, which is based in the sydney inner-west suburb of Camperdown, is continuing to trade under administrator Atle Crowe-Maxwell from DBA Reconstruction & Advisory.
Mr Crowe-Maxwell told news.com.au that the business was struggling under the weight of cost of living pressures and the high levels of government excise imposed on beer.
“This whole industry has just been smashed by excise,” he said of the government tax which accounts for up to a third of the cost of beer.
He added that while government financial relief during Covid had provided some breathing space, subsequent cost of living pressures being felt by consumers had hurt the business.
“People are drinking Carlton not craft beer and eating at home or Maccas not at craft breweries,” Mr Crowe-Maxwell said….
