Wonder why there are so many top craft beer brands that are not available anywhere else except in their own region? There are a few reasons behind this, but I want to talk about one very important reason why some famous brands are far reach for Malaysian craft drinkers. And that reason goes by the term “Hyperlocal”.
Hyperlocal is a method breweries like Treehouse from Charlton, Massachusetts adopt where they focus on their own community market. While hyperlocal is not an uncommon approach for any F&B industry even in Malaysia, where we can see people line up for certain food in certain states, the end result from the hyperlocal brewer is hyping up their beer internationally to a phenomena where
“the best beer is the beer you can never have”.
Some may wonder with these breweries only targeting regional sales, the return of the investment might seem to be limited. Hyperlocal normally comes with the strategy where they do not engage with any distributor. As such, the breweries are selling to the end customers directly which means they are enjoying better margins for their future expansion. To top it off, there is also the economical effect surrounding the breweries, where outdoor events and festivals are held regularly, attracting the drinkers to keep coming back for more.
So while some brewers are taking their market towards the local community, and some breweries are selling shares to big players, there are also great breweries that are stepping out to challenge the craft beer world stage during this pandemic, and this is indeed great news for Malaysia craft drinkers where variety is still a major challenge due to the import system and the micro market. So all the more reason to appreciate and celebrate those great beers that make their way to these shores!
