Why Greenbanks
Greenbanks Tasmanian Whisky Co. is a new entrant into the Tasmanian whisky industry and a privately-owned Australian company.
Our distillery in Bridgewater, Tasmania – 25 minutes from the centre of Hobart commenced production in late 2023.
While we make whisky for our own brands, as a contract partner we will provide you access not only to Tasmania’s largest capacity whisky distillery, but also our ATO-licenced bonded warehousing to store your maturing whisky.
We can work with you to create your own unique Tasmanian whisky. Our ability to scale supply as your brand grows over time makes us the ideal long term partner.
Why Whisky
Whisky is a very large and growing category.
Whisky is the largest spirits category in Australia, accounting for nearly 40% of spirit sales.
It is also the most premium spirits category, accounting for 50% of ultra-premium spirit sales.
In recent years the whisky category has experienced significant growth, with a CAGR of 4.1% in Australia between 2017 and 2022, and forecast to grow by 7.2% in Asia from 2021-2025.
Australian whisky brands, which presently account for less than 2% of sales domestically, have grown at a CAGR of 58% from 2017 to 2022.
Whisky made here in Australia will continue to benefit from Australians, more than people in any other country, preferring to buy Australian-made brands.
MATURED AND SEMI-MATURED TASMANIAN WHISKY HAS SIGNIFICANT VALUE
Whisky is non-perishable and typically appreciates in value over time.
Due to the long lead times involved in ageing quality whisky, consumers and investors will often pay a significant premium for semi-matured or matured whisky.
In Scotland, Ireland, Japan and the USA there is a highly active market in whisky barrel trading, primarily led by investors who see whisky as a commodity with reliable investment returns or brand owners looking to fill supply shortfalls.
Similarly, but even more so, Tasmanian whisky is a vanishingly rare commodity that has significant demand on the secondary market.
Why Tasmania
Tasmania has potential to be the next great whisky province globally.
Tasmania has well-established green credentials, with the cleanest air and water in the world and the highest-quality local raw materials.
More recently, Tasmania:
- has garnered a reputation for producing some of the world’s most highly awarded whiskies, produced by its rapidly developing and passionate whisky community.
- has built a reputation for craftsmanship and premium quality, with environmentally sustainable, natural, unique and artisan products and brands.
- exemplifies the global trend towards premiumisation with 67% of Australians agreeing that Tasmanian made products are worth paying more for.
Why Greenbanks
1. FULL SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE FROM AN EXPERIENCED HEAD DISTILLER
“My ambition is to redefine convention to create world-renowned whiskies. With its pristine climate and unique microbiology, there’s no better place to do that than Tasmania.”
John Slattery, Head Distiller
2. ONGOING ACCESS TO SIGNIFICANT QUANTITIES OF NEW MAKE WHISKY AS A PLATFORM FOR BRAND LAUNCH AND ONGOING GROWTH
Greenbanks can meet your volume requirements with the operational flexibility to start small and scale as your business grows, with total capacity in excess of 11 million bottles per annum.
3. AN ATTRACTIVE CAPITAL EXPENDITURE ALTERNATIVE
Greenbanks offers our contract partners an attractive alternative to the significant capital expenditure of building your own distillery or expanding their existing operations.
This capital expenditure could be redeployed to grow your inventory, marketing and sales.
4. CONSISTENCY AND QUALITY OF NEW MAKE WHISKY
To create whiskies of a consistently high quality, we have invested heavily into industry-leading equipment.
This includes our Vendome (USA) distillation systems and Kolmark (Tasmania) stainless-steel fabrication and process design.
Our further investment in process automation enables us to consistently reproduce the highest quality new make whisky time and time again.
5. DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS, INNOVATION AND NEW CATEGORIES
Our unique distillery design means we are not limited to just malted barley as our distilling grain. We can make your whisky from any single grain or combination of grains including barley, wheat, rye, corn and more.
We offer continuous column distillation and, in the upcoming second phase of our build, batch pot still distillation. As a contract partner this enables you to make any style of whisky in the world, from blended whiskies, mash bill-based whiskies like those produced in the USA and Ireland, single grain whiskies, through to single malts.
Our 1,000 litre R&D distillation system gives you the opportunity to trial new production parameters at a smaller scale with confidence that the quality can be scaled up to our production distillation systems once you are ready.
6. REMOVAL OF EXECUTION RISK AROUND COST AND TIMING IN ANY NEW BUILD
It can take several years to build a new distillery and involves significant execution risk.
Major Tasmanian distillery projects currently in development with lesser capacity than Greenbanks are estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars to complete.
By coming onboard as a contract partner with Greenbanks, we can provide the benefits of greater efficiency, capacity, scale and lower production costs, potentially shaving several years off your brand release timeframe expectations.
7. COMPETITIVE NEW MAKE WHISKY PRICING
Greenbanks’ scale, efficiency and state-of-the-art control systems help us achieve the lowest production costs in Tasmania.
This gives you, as a contract partner, the opportunity to create world-class whiskies at more accessible price points and attract new consumers globally.
8. ACCESS TO INDUSTRY-LEADING WHISKY MATURATION SERVICES
Barrel management is a critical step in the creation of a world-class whisky. All the whisky’s colour and ~70% of the flavour is derived from the barrel, so it’s important to get it right.
We have access to industry experts who can provide advice on the best maturation solution to deliver your desired whisky flavour profile.
You can age your maturing whisky in our ATO-approved bond storage facilities until you think it’s ready.
9. strong governance
Our board has been established to provide strong independent business oversight and a governance framework that ensures we operate to high financial and ethical standards.
We are fortunate to have two highly-regarded Australian business leaders – Marc De Stoop and Tony Davis – as non-executive directors.
We have processes and procedures in place to produce the highest quality spirits consistently and safely for our customers.
Annual audits will be undertaken by a reputable independent accounting firm.
10. an emphasis on sustainability
We are committed to conserving water, our most precious resource, and we will minimise our environmental impact through adoption of industry best practice and innovation.
In a world-first, the upcoming Brighton green hydrogen project will deliver zero-greenhouse gas emitting hydrogen fuel – generated by solar, wind and Tasmanian hydroelectricity – to replace natural gas at our distillery from 2025 onwards.
We are committed to the community in which we operate and will source locally wherever possible to do so. This includes sourcing grain locally from Tasmanian farmers to ensure the highest quality grain and the lowest carbon footprint.
We care about the health and wellbeing of our employees and providing a safe work environment.
