Iconic Tasmanian brewery James Boags shifts beer production to mainland, leaving workers out of a job

Tasmanian brewer James Boag’s will move part of its beer production to mainland Australia as the cost of doing business bites, leaving more than a dozen workers with a bitter proposition.

Parent company Lion announced the change to its Launceston brewery on Tuesday and proposed transitioning the company to a one-shift operation to ensure long-term sustainability in the face of challenging market conditions.

Lion spends more than $1.5 million a year transporting its beers to the mainland, the company’s Australian managing director James Brindley said.

“It has been a tough time for large and small brewers with overall beer sales and production volumes in decline due to changing consumer preferences, cost-of-living pressures and continual increases in federal government excise,” he said.

“Given this, we have made the difficult decision to move production of some beer destined for the mainland to our breweries there and are proposing to transition to a one-shift operation.”

It’s the first time in the brewer’s more than 160-year history that its beers will be produced outside of Tasmania.

The proposed changes will impact about 14 brewery technician role — three of which are vacant — two middle management roles and two tradies if Boag’s transitions to a one-shift operation.

The United Workers Union accused Lion of going down the “bean counter path” of cutting jobs rather than considering what James Boag’s means to the Tasmanian community.

“It threatens to rip the heart out of the place when the community loses a group of really skilled workers, and brands like James Boag’s Premium that the workers have built so proudly will effectively be outsourced to mainland breweries,” the union’s Tasmanian regional co-ordinator Amy Brumby said.

The development is terrible news for the northern Tasmanian economy and tragic for the people involved, Labor leader Dean Winter said.

“The fact Tasmania will no longer brew beer sold on the mainland - including Boag’s beer itself - is a very sad day for an iconic Tasmanian business,” Mr Winter said.

But Mr Brindley reassured Tasmanians the beers they drink on the island would continue to be homemade.

“Importantly, all Boag’s beers sold in Tasmania would continue to be made at the Boag’s Brewery in Launceston.”

Lion said it is exploring other opportunities within the company for affected workers as it consults its workforce on the changes, but workers have voted against a July 23 decision date.

The company has told workers the changes take effect on August 27.

Workers who fail to be redeployed will receive comprehensive support, including redundancy packages, outplacement assistance and access to Lion’s personal support program.