Distillers and brewers on the Far South Coast to benefit from excise refund cap announced in Federal Budget 2021

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced small brewers and distillers will benefit from a tripling of the excise refund cap for small brewers and distillers from $100,000 to $350,000 per year.

As of July 1 2021, eligible brewers and distillers will be able to receive a full remission of any excise they pay, up to an annual cap of $350,000, prior this they were only entitled to a refund of 60 per cent of the excise they pay, up to an annual cap of $100,000.

"So what they've done is basically extended what they've always done for wine to the brewing and distilling industries," Owner and Head Distiller at North of Eden Gin, Gavin Hughes said.

North of Eden is a micro distillery located in Stony Creek near Bega and has been operating commercially since January 2019.

"One of the biggest impacts of excise on a small business is cashflow because you actually have to pay this stuff up front,

"That really restricts the cashflow through the business, which stops you from expanding, which stops you from hiring new people," Mr Hughes said.

Mr Hughes said these changes will allow them to hire staff and offer their current apprentice distiller, Ruby Jay, a full-time position.

"We haven't had any staff really up until this point so it's been myself and my partner that run the business," Mr Hughes said.

"I'm hoping we'll go from just the two of us to probably five or six people over the course of six months."

Mr Hughes believes these changes are about offering distillers and small brewers around Australia a chance for further growth.

"In Australia, there's less than 5% of spirits that are Australian made the rest of them are imported," he said.

"So what this is really about is trying to help grow this industry."

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Company founder and Head Distiller, Coral Reynolds said the recent change in the excise refund cap for distillers is the "best news ever."

"We get a 100% of our excise refund cap back which means we can put it straight back into the company and also we can do more for the community."

The Grand Matriarch, founded in 2018, is a micro-distillery located in Merimbula and is currently selling online, at local liquor stores, at local markets and a couple of hospitality businesses within the Bega Valley.

Ms Reynolds said she will use the money gathered from this change to put towards investing more into sponsorships and donations within the Valley.

"We've got more money to work with the community, we just want all the money to stay in the Bega Valley," Ms Reynolds said.

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Owner of Longstocking brewery, Peter Caldwell said the excise refund cap will help improve their cash flow in particular which will help speed up their business plan.

"It's a very good initiative for micro-breweries that are basically big employers of local people," Mr Caldwell said.

Longstocking brewery, is an independent brewery that serves a range of craft beers and ciders, located within Oaklands Barn, Pambula.

Mr Caldwell was excited to say that with their recent expansion, they were soon receiving a canning line they'd ordered from the U.S a few months ago.

"We've just put in a new brewery, which is five times the capacity of our existing one and that will enable us to get into some of the larger markets such as Canberra," Mr Caldwell said.

The highly automated canning line will fill up 25 cans a minute, which is much faster than when they bottled beer.

"We're very excited, it's a real game changer for us."

Mr Caldwell cautioned however that Government announcements are made long before the infrastructure in in place, so they will have to wait before feeling the benefits but remains excited for the ways it will help build their business.

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