Epic Brewing has gone into liquidation in a move highlighting the challenges facing New Zealand’s brewing industry.

The New Zealand-based brewing firm launched in 2005 and became one of the country’s best-known craft beer brands locally and abroad.

The business, with 15 employees and a taproom in Auckland, went into voluntary liquidation last week while the business goes up for sale.

In an interview with local beer publication Pursuit of Hoppiness, founder Luke Nicholas highlighted that the brewery had lost interest from an investor during a planned transition from contract brewing to setting up their own production facility.

“We’d been working on a project to set-up a brewery and a new taproom but we’ve been struggling to get it through Auckland Council,” Luke explained.

“We thought we had a plan, but the plan ended, but we don’t have enough time or resources to pull something out the bag because the market is so difficult.”

New Zealand’s brewing industry has faced a range of challenges, notably CO2 shortages that have seriously impacted production and intense retail competition amongst the country’s 200 beer brands.

Liquidator firm Waterstone Insolvency was to manage the sale process, which is taking place over the coming weeks.

“We are running the business as a going concern at the moment. We’re still trading. We’ve engaged staff on a short-term basis to keep the business running so we can run a sale process,” Waterstone Insolvency director Adam Botterill shared in comments to the New Zealand Herald.

“We think there is a lot of value in the company in terms of the brand. It’s a really well-known beer brand sold in supermarkets … It’s got a big market presence.”

Beyond New Zealand, checks by Asia Brewers Network show that Epic continues to be on sale in Thailand & Singapore.