DB Breweries boss Peter Hart returns to NZ to lead low-carb beer push

He then moved to South Africa in the mid-2000s, and was responsible for opening Heineken’s business in the region.

For the past 10 years, Hart has spent time running his own business, largely dealing into the Middle East while doing some international consultancy work on the side.

In November he took over as the MD at DB Breweries from Matt Wilson, who had led the business since 2021.

For Hart, the decision to come back to New Zealand was based on a combination of factors.

“I’m a passionate Kiwi, I never stopped supporting New Zealand or the All Blacks and what have you. The opportunity to return to DB also was an opportunity that I couldn’t resist, it’s a business I owe a lot of my loyalty to,” Hart said.

“Then obviously I still have family down here, and all of those planets seemed to align. I feel incredibly privileged to be leading DB back in New Zealand, closer to family and doing what New Zealanders love to do.”

Reflecting on what lessons he took from his time away, Hart believed he was “an insider with an outsider’s perspective”.

He said he understood what makes New Zealanders tick, but thought that fundamentally New Zealand was the same place even after his time away.

One key lesson he took from his time in South Africa was to appreciate “what you do have in a market and not to focus on what you don’t”, referencing how South Africa’s market is “incredibly volatile”.

To help immerse himself back into the brewery, Hart shared he had spent the past two and half months travelling across the country, visiting stakeholders from Invercargill to Paihia.

One thing he will be aware of is the business’ last financial result, in which it reported a 2.3% increase in revenue to $594.4 million, but a 73% decrease in profit from $18.8m to $4.9m.

“From what I can see in my short time back here, DB’s an interesting mirror to New Zealand. It’s been an incredibly challenging environment, you can’t not say that.

“But equally I think you’ve got to be able to define your own way forward, I think that’s actually what we need to reset the dial.”

Hart said DB needs to have more influence in terms of the way New Zealanders interact, noting that the business has become the largest integrated brewer and hospitality owner in the country, with roughly 2500 employees at its peak.

“I really feel my responsibility is to engender a ‘what we do have, not what we don’t have’ mentality, and I think if we can do that then we can play a far better role and be more in control of our own destiny.”

For DB Breweries, and the wider beer and alcohol industry, it’s more than attitudes that are changing, it’s consumers too.

Stats NZ’s latest data on alcohol consumption for the year to September found that while Kiwis are drinking almost the same amount of beer overall, lower/no-alcohol beverages are on the rise.

Beer with an alcohol-by-volume (ABV) level between 2.5% and 4.35% increased sharply to 105.0 million litres, up 37% from 76.4 million litres the previous year.

Higher-strength beer in comparison (4.35%-5.0% ABV) fell from 165.3 million litres to 143.0 million litres, down 13%.

Beer with an ABV level above 5% dropped significantly in the data, falling from 34.4 million litres to 25.5 million litres, or a drop of 25%.

As to how that consumer change impacts DB’s strategy, Hart said the brewery was well-positioned.

“I do keep pinching myself and saying I think I’m incredibly lucky. We’ve got three out of the top four low-carb beers, and that’s definitely the way the market’s moving, in a market that overall is declining.

“You’ve got low-carb growing at circa 20% on a year-on-year basis, which again is quite a juxtaposition to how overall doom and gloom it can be.

“If you are thinking about that trend, it’s incredibly positive, so we have to and are leaning into that.”

Hart said there was more moderation from consumers, but rather than approach that as a negative, the industry needed to run towards it.

He said it also helped to be backed by one of the largest international brewers in the world in the form of Heineken, making it easier for DB to tap into trends and technologies from overseas to quickly replicate in New Zealand.

But he also acknowledged, like many other food producers and manufacturers, costs continue to climb.

“We’ve got to also be very mindful of our productivity. On one hand, we’ve got to be bringing more value back into the business, and not trying to discount your way to glory. But on the other hand, you’ve still got to be mindful of your productivity levels and how you’re managing your costs and ultimately that’s the magic.

“I don’t think there’s a uniform answer to how do you do that, but ultimately it comes down to how you look at those two things and you balance those things off as you move forward.”

A keen issue for Hart is current excise taxes on alcohol and its impact on the hospitality industry.

Based on his international observations, Hart said New Zealand has an opportunity to refresh its approach to deliver “immediate economic and social benefits”.

Hart suggested three actions that could be implemented quickly to support the industry.

This includes lowering excise on keg beer, providing immediate relief to pubs, bars and restaurants.

Another would be to reduce excise on beer with ABV levels of 3.5% and below, accentuating the strong existing consumer trend towards lower-alcohol options and reinforcing positive choices.

And, finally, to accelerate New Zealand beer exports by extending the excise remission scheme that Australian producers benefit from to New Zealand’s beer exporters under the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement.

Under the current settings, the first A$350,000 of excise paid by Australian brewers is free (soon to be increased to A$400,000), so making it the same for New Zealand producers would level the playing field, particularly for smaller exporters.

The transition to low-carb/low-alcohol beverages also requires changes to production lines.

Hart joins the brewery as it begins a serious upgrade at its Ōtāhuhu site.

He said the business is upgrading its packaging lines, noting how consumers are wanting products to come in different formats and packaging sizes.

That will require a new canning line, as well as installing new tanks and capacity at the site.

The decisions and capital applications for the upgrades were made roughly four years ago, but Hart will be in charge of making sure the transition is smooth.

“It’s a long-term process owning a brewery, it’s a 30-year value type asset. In four years’ time we’ll be celebrating 100 years in New Zealand, and the intent is to be around another 100 years.

“It’s not a cheap exercise, but that’s the benefit of being associated with a large international player. They realise that you have to make those decisions for the long term, so we’re no exception to that.”

Looking to the year ahead, Hart said he was looking forward to connecting with the business through all of its assets, from production at the brewery, right through to investment in its brands and hospitality offerings.

But Hart returned to his mantra.

“Fundamentally our business is about sociability. If we can bring more of that back to New Zealand and engender more of that positivity back into society, that’s what I would love to be able to achieve.

“It’s a great business to be in, it’s still incredibly rewarding, and here in New Zealand it’s just a privilege to be doing that.”

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.