With various levels of liquor bans stretching across the archipelago and outlet opening restrictions still in place in some areas many Filipino’s have been unable to visit their favourite haunts and have resorted to drinking with friends at home.

Enter the large format packaging of growlers and mini kegs, 1.5L – 5L refillable vessels able to keep draft beer fresh for up to 3 days. This packaging allows breweries to deliver draft quality product direct to the homes of their customers and, as standard bottles can add 15-20% onto the price of the product, there’s the added bonus of significant savings for both the brewery and drinker.

Compadre Craft introduced growlers to help sales during the Manila coronavirus lockdown

Compadre Craft, brewed in the BGC (Bonifacio Global City) area of Manila, experienced a sharp drop in sales as soon as alcohol restrictions were placed on outlets in March 2020. However the switch to growlers, in direct response to the lockdowns, has enabled them to sell their inventory and keep their stock fresh.

The take-up was not immediate explains CEO Raj Sadhwani as large format packaging for craft beer was not widespread prior to 2020. But gradually Compadre Craft started to see sales re-bound as drinkers overcame their initial scepticism and became used to the format.

Reflecting on this Raj observes “I think we are in the very beginning stages of this format being accepted. It is nice to see repeat clients. The initial reaction was that the beer would go flat, however after trying it and realising this is not the case we have had repeat customers”

Compadre customers have the choice of collecting the growlers themselves direct from the brewery in BGC or having their growlers delivered. Today home delivery makes up 80% of Compadre sales.

The brewery is fortunate to have a sister company that runs an online ordering portal making their pivot to online sales almost seamless.

Their growlers were listed on “The Booze Shop” platform overnight once the decision was made to use this new format and all that was left was to communicate this to their loyal following of craft converts.

However there have been some logistics issues with the switch, the increased volume of deliveries the brewery was adding to their daily schedule meant the Booze Shop had to engage third party logistics providers such as Grab and LaLa Move as opposed to use their own trucks.

This meant extra logistics, but it was a problem Raj was happy to have given it meant his beer was being delivered out to consumers.

Meanwhile in Cebu

For Michael Nikkel of Turning Wheels Craft Brewery, Cebu’s first craft brewery, growlers have been a godsend. “Growlers have been our saviour!” he declares as “dine-in is still not allowed in Cebu so take-away has been our only sales option”

Growlers have been a saviour for Turning Wheels Brewery as dine-in sales are still banned in Cebu

The American, who has been brewing in the central Visayas region since 2015 encountered the same problem as Compadre in that his average customer wasn’t even aware of the larger packaging format before this year.

His regulars are not only happy they can still get their fill of their favourite brews, but that the larger format is also more economical for them than buying individual 330ml bottles.

Their increasing popularity and the lack of dine-in sales means that Turning Wheels is now sees 90% of their sales through growlers.

That’s not to say they haven’t had their issues, cap leakage and the occasional breakage (due the variable quality of the growlers he has been able to source in such a short time) have caused a few problems. But these have been easily remedied and the taps at the Turning Wheels brewery have kept flowing.

Recently Michael has introduced double walled stainless steel growlers into his range. These are of higher quality than their glass cousins and able to keep the beer inside colder and fresher for longer.

The new growlers are gradually gaining acceptance once customers overcome the slightly higher price point to purchase the vessel. He points out that, as with everything related to craft beer, it takes time to educate the consumer that quality is worth paying for.

Mini Kegs take off

Back up in Manila there is an even larger home packaging format making waves. The PCK (The Philippine Craft Kings”) have launched 2L & 5L “Juggies” – mini kegs with a pouring spout.

The team at The PCK had been looking for a direct-to-consumer format for a while and launched Juggies in early 2020, just before the global pandemic struck.

Explains co-founder Jezel Paraiso “We’re able to go direct to the consumers and finally execute programs that we have always wanted to bring to the market.”

Juggies sales have been strong for The PCK in Manila since lockdown measures were introduced

The home delivery model was a dramatic change in direction for the company that provides logistics support for over 20 of Manila’s craft breweries wanting to deliver throughout the sprawling metropolis. “We were able to pivot early enough to learn an entirely different business model to what we’re used to” continues Jezel.

With the closure of bars and restaurants throughout the capitol city their biggest channel now is home delivery, a change from pre-covid times when they were were mainly focussed on delivering Filipino craft beers to bars and restaurants.

The team had to create an entirely new website as the ordering and delivery process has proved very different from selling bottles and cases to bars. Fortunately all this had been implemented before the shutdowns so they were ready for the pick-up in sales they experienced.

Similar to Compadre Craft they found the increase in sales volumes made it necessary to engage third party delivery drivers, particularly as the Juggies need to be collected after use for cleaning and re-filling.

PCK’s relationship with multiple breweries allows them to offer a wide selection of draft brews for home delivery. Well known Manila breweries such as Boondocks Brewing, NIPA Brew, Crows Craft, Monkey Eagle and Manila’s largest craft brewery Engkanto work with them so, much like visiting a taproom, customers can enjoy a draft beer in the comfort of their own home.

The Future

Raj, Michael and Jazel all agree that growlers, in various formats, are here to stay. Filipino’s have been introduced to a new packaging format and they are embracing it. “Who wouldn’t want to bring draft beer home and drink it?” asks Jazel.

In a country where a bottle of craft beer may cost 3 to 4 times more than the market leading macro-brewed lager, San Miguel, Filipino’s are enjoying the cost savings afforded by the larger format and as a direct result of the covid pandemic are re-discovering the joys of drinking at home with friends and family more than ever.

One person betting on this trend continuing is Jun Flores.

Jun used to run a craft brewery in the Kapitolyo area of the city, but since closing shop in late 2019 has been serving as the President of the Craft Beer Association of the Philippines.

Jun Flores expects the popularity of growlers to grow in the Philippines

He plans to open a string of Growler Stations to bottle and deliver fresh draft beer around Manila. Hoping to open in September this year his plans have been slightly delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but hopes to be operational by the end of the year.

Initially thinking of only selling his growlers online he decided to open physical stores so his consumers can try the beers before they buy if they like. From these stores he will run his takeaway and delivery services (deliveries will be dispatched for online bookings).

Like the PCK Jun will offer a wide selection of beers from breweries around the Philippines. He explains his philosophy as “Rotation Nation” – nothing is static, his beer selection will always be changing. “Our plan is to regularly rotate and change beer selection. We highlight the small breweries who don’t have an outlet to sell and distribute their beers. The beers we’ll put on tap are the beers that are not usually available in bottles or cans, like special releases, collaborations or those one-off brews.”

“We will guarantee that the beers will be served fresh and with high quality directly from the breweries.” Jun Flores

Jun had noticed Filipino’s were purchasing more of their beers online during the pandemic and thinks that some element of this will remain once the world recovers. While researching for his new enterprise he was also surprised to find that even before the pandemic around 70% of Filipino’s were buying their beers from convenience stores, supermarkets and in their local neighborhood “sari-sari” store to consume at home.

If all goes well he plans to open 3-4 locations in Metro Manila within the next 6 months and hopefully to other cities around the archipelago.

A long time advocate for the Philippines’ craft beer industry Jun plans to staff his beer booths with well educated staff that know how to talk beer and knows how to explain beers to consumers who may be new to the myriad styles of craft beer. They will also be trained in the ‘counter pressure’ system he’ll be using to fill his growlers – where the growler is filled with carbon dioxide to eliminate oxygen in the container before it is filled with beer (to keep the beer fresher for longer) “giving the consumer the brewery fresh experience” Jun explains.

Jun’s goal? To make craft beer more available to the mass market. Craft beer in the Philippines had previously only been available in high-end bars and restaurants which makes it expensive to consumers. He hopes that his stores will make craft beer more affordable and accessible to more Filipino beer drinkers.

“Our goal is to have the growler station available everywhere, which benefits our consumers and our breweries.”

As with many other industries during these uncertain times, the craft beer industry here is evolving fast to survive. Breweries are joining forces to reduce costs and in the growler they may have found a new champion to reach new markets. One thing seems certain, the growler is here to stay in the Philippines.