Supporting local distilleries will become easier for Australia’s small bars in the New Year with the launch of Nip of Courage Wholesale.
Nip of Courage has been the national distributor for a wide variety of Australian craft distilleries since 2013, and Founder Kathleen Davies told Bars and Clubs that she wanted to bring that experience into a wholesaling business, and make Australian craft spirits more accessible to the trade.
“It has been really difficult for small bars to really support local Australian craft distilleries, because they end up dealing with 20 different suppliers and paying for freight on one bottle,” Kathleen said.
“We’re creating a one-stop-shop that will range hundreds of lines, so it removes some of the big obstacles to ranging local spirits. Hopefully this will help improve market share for some of our amazing Australian distillers, because currently they have less than one per cent.”
In addition to bringing a wide range of Australian spirits under one roof the Nip of Courage team will also be working with the distillers on some business fundamentals as Kathleen explained.
“All the distilleries that we range we will work with to have things like bar codes on all their bottles so any bar with an off-premise licence can scan the bottles and sell them retail. But also we’ll help create bottle and pack photos so it’s easier for the trade to share details about the spirits and what they are ranging through social media,” she told Bars and Clubs.
Nip of Courage Wholesale will be an extension of Nip of Courage’s existing distributor operations and will help in overcoming a number of industry challenges. The service will provide national warehousing and logistics, giving the trade greater access to regional brands and distilleries.
The online wholesale portal will be launched officially in early 2021, streamlining the ordering process for trade customers such as bars, bottle shops, restaurants and more. Trade customers will have access to hundreds of lines all in the one place.
“Australians are gradually gaining a greater ‘Buy Local’ mentality when it comes to produce, wine and beer,” Kathleen said, “Nip of Courage Wholesale aims to foster these same attitudes in the world of Aussie craft spirits, making it easier than ever to support Australian brands.”
The online wholesale portal will be launched officially in early 2021 and Nip of Courage is now accepting expressions of interest for wholesale partners including distributors, distilleries and brands.
