We'll drink to this: Sparkke-ing change in the beer industry

When we first heard about Sparkke beer, it sounded like an awesome concept. A social enterprise aimed at supporting conversation-worthy causes on equality, with the ultimate conversational product, beer. From sexual consent to gender equality to respecting our First Nation people, the brew crew are using their experience at local brewing legends (like Young Henry's, for example), and putting it to good use. Oh, and the crew are all women. Which is almost unheard of in the industry. We caught up with head brewer and arse kicker, Agi, about what it's like to start something game changing in an industry already very set in its ways.Sparkke is so cool! How did you come up with the concept?We were looking at the beer market for a completely separate reason, and noticed that people between the ages of 18 - 24 years of age drive the growth of the beer industry in Australia - and pretty much globally.When we looked at most beer brands, they didn't seem to be focussing on what our market really wants - authenticity, inclusivity, universal fairness, equality - etc, as well as great bevvies made with integrity. We saw a real gap there, and it totally resonated with us. We explored women in the sector - again - such an incredible gap. Women are so ignored by the industry, gender diversity is a joke, cultures are ignored. So much room to create a brand like Sparkke. It just seemed a natural opportunity to us.

The beer industry is dominated by two players that control 80% of the market here; Lion Nathan and CUB. Neither of those companies is Australian.

One of them, CUB, is ultimately owned by Anheuser-Busch inBev - which produces 1 in 3 beers worldwide and controls 45% of the world's beer profit. We started exploring their values, work structures and practices etc. What we learned fuelled our determination to put our values transparently on our cans. It all kind of flowed from there really.Wow. Those are some pretty big obstacles. So when you started, what was the biggest challenge you underestimated, and how did you overcome it?As they say - golly. Which one to pick? In truth it is a combo of two things - one is the production scale required to produce a quality product at a commercial price. For example, a minimum can print run is 50,000 cans for one beverage. The capital required to support this is pretty intense.The second is the development of four completely different brews simultaneously. Hard to manage, but especially when we are contract brewing. Our standards are incredibly high, and we are working within a shared environment that we don't control. But we still have to achieve our quality objectives and our schedule. It takes a lot of juggling.You used to work with a bunch of dudes at Young Henry's, and now you're surrounded by women! What have you noticed that women bring to the table that's particularly awesome?I think that women have a particular sort of empathy and nurturing nature which makes them extra special to be around. Sparkke is a real family, both Kari and Rose are mothers and you can see how caring they are and it reflects on the way they run their business and relate with the team.We are confronting some pretty sensitive issues in the causes we are addressing and I think that it's very important to be understanding and be open minded. I really do think that women are quite adept at that. It's just a special kind of sensitivity I think.Sounds like women have a lot to bring to the brew - so what do you think prevents most women getting into it?For me honestly, it just seemed like a dream career that didn't actually exist or wasn't attainable, until I realised it was. It never really occurred to me that I was going to be a minority until I started working so it came as a bit of a rude awakening to me.I think it's just a gender stereo type thing still, women shouldn't be wearing steel caps or using tools - that's a mans job. But slowly and surely these generalisations are being confronted and broken down.Honestly, brewing is a hard industry to get into, it takes a lot of persistence and if you are being challenged (by any gender) to pursue something you so passionately want to do, it is really difficult. It takes endless push back to even get a shot. It's not a glamorous industry by any means and I think that a lot of people tend to romanticise it. So if you are a woman, it's somewhat hard for you to be there in a male dominated industry. It's so hard to get into when all you do it try! It can bring you down I suppose.This is my experience at least. To be honest, I don't know too many women in the industry. Hopefully Sparkke and other great craft brands help create the change needed.Want to drink to something truly worth drinking to? You can get Sparkke delivered, or get talking at these stockists and venues. Image credit: Sparkke