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Empire’s aim is achieving growth and profitability through the acquisition of quality assets within the growing “Craft Beer” sector. The first acquisition is the highly successful Colonial Brewing Company Pty Ltd in Margaret River, Western Australia, currently Australia’s Champion Small Brewery 2006 as awarded at the Australian International Beer Awards.
Empire’s primary asset will be the Colonial premises and brand. Empire will seek to achieve its short-to-medium-term growth via the expansion of the Colonial business model into strategic locations throughout Australia. Ongoing development of Colonial venues will be in similarly high-traffic, tourist locations that will maximise turnover and foot flow traffic while maintaining a focus on high-quality style ales and bright, family friendly venues.
The board and management team have identified two sites in Fremantle, Western Australia to build two new wholly owned and operated Colonial businesses. Both sites fulfil the criteria of strategic locations that will enable the development of new Colonial venues.Future medium-to-long-term growth will be achieved by the acquisition of existing craft beer businesses that have a history of profitable performance and the opportunity to further expand their brand under Empire’s business strategy.The Craft Beer market is currently undergoing enormous growth worldwide.
The growth has been driven by a new age of understanding, discovery and education. As consumers’ knowledge of beer increases, so to does their desire to purchase and try different flavours and styles of beer. Empire intends to be at the forefront of this growth and create a stable of quality products and brands that will be seen as the leaders within this category.

Colonial Brewing Co.
2007 Champion Australian Brewery
2007 Champion International Small Brewery
2006 Champion Small Brewery
The Opportunity
The Australian craft beer market is mirroring the growth that has been experienced in the United States, which in 2005 represented nearly five per cent of the total beer market. In Australia the craft beer market is showing the same trends as experienced in the United States.
Recently there has been a significant shift in the tastes and requirements of the Australian market, with an upward trend among consumers to upgrade their choice of beers and purchase craft beers instead of the traditional domestic premium brands.
Growth Strategy
Empire plans to capitalise on this opportunity through a growth strategy focused on increasing sales by building new Colonial breweries in key locations throughout Australia that provide quality venues that cater for this emerging craft beer market. Each venue will brew its own beer on site for sale in that venue.
Empire will identify appropriate locations interstate for further venues. It is anticipated that the first interstate venue will open in 2008. High Margin End-to-End Business Model
Empire has developed a vertically integrated business model that has the opportunity to maximise returns to investors in the growing premium and craft beer segments.
Empire’s business model involves the sourcing and production of high-quality craft beers on site and selling directly to consumers through a planned network of family-friendly and strategically located venues in well-recognised tourism precincts and destinational locations, such as Fremantle in Western Australia.
The unique strength of this business model is the ability of Empire to control both quality and costs and avoid the inevitable price pressures associated with traditional distribution channels.
To maximise the sales and margin opportunities that business presents, sales of its draught and packaged products will be via its own venues where they will be sold directly to consumers at full margin. This will significantly increase the average per person sale and will create a reason to revisit the venue to access the products.
In addition to this the bottled beers will be available for sale over the internet on the www.colonialbrewingco.com.au website. There will be a significant database developed from people visiting the different Colonial venues throughout Australia and these people will be contacted and given the opportunity to purchase Colonial beer over the website.
As the reputation of the Colonial Brewing Co grows, via the growth in venues and awards from beer shows, Colonial will develop a database of consumers who visit the different venues in Australia. These people will be communicated with directly via a regular email newsletter that will invite them to purchase Colonial beers that will be sent directly to their doorstep.
| Mel Ashton | Non-Executive Chairman |
| Phillip Gallagher | Managing Director |
| Ian Macliver | Non-Executive Director |
| Kate Lamont | Non-Executive Director |
| Philip Lucas | Non-Executive Director |
Company AddressSuite 5, 531 Hay Street Subiaco Business Centre
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