Strengthening the niche industry of craft and organic beer

On Friday 2nd December, the Malta Business Bureau (MBB) held its final conference for the Erasmus+ TAPROOM Project: Promoting the Production and Marketing of Organic and Craft Beer.

The event, which took place at the Farsons Brewhouse, was kicked off by MBB CEO Joe Tanti, who highlighted MBB’s work in attaining EU funding and participation in European programmes such as TAPROOM for the benefit of the business community, stating, “we take great pride in being of service to businesses and entrepreneurs through such projects.”

The audience was welcomed by Farsons Group Chief Executive Norman Aquilina to the Farsons Brewhouse, while Dr Chris Bonett, Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds, reinstated the importance not only of EU projects, but also of supporting niche industries such as the craft and beer market.

TAPROOM Project Manager Michele Agius went on to introduce the project, affirming that “this Erasmus+ project was not only instrumental in strengthening the niche industry of craft and organic beer through numerous tools and activities, but also in bringing together a national cluster of passionate and energetic brewers. MBB is committed to bring this cluster to new heights by means of the Enterprise Europe Network support service and other opportunities.”

Mr Agius went on to discuss the primary project outputs, presenting the Manual for Trainers, a tailor-made approach to train the trainers how to educate people and entrepreneurs by means of ten training modules which deal with the entire process of getting craft beer from farm to glass.

Citing the uniqueness of the craft and beer industry as the basis for this unique approach in training, the Project Manager also presented a guidebook for national certification developed by the five project partners, which includes a step-by-step instruction list for emerging enterprises to obtain certified legal labelling for their products, tailor-made for each of the five countries and for EU standards. These tools, he continued, have been made all the more accessible and far-reaching by featuring on the specifically designed digital hub, known as the Interactive Repository Platform.

Finally, Mr Agius explained how, thanks to the willingness of the brewers, national clusters have come together in the spirit of collaboration, resulting in the creation of five national clusters of brewers (one from each of the five partnering countries participating in the Erasmus+ TAPROOM Project). With the aim of working on both at a national level and cooperating on a trans-national level, the Malta cluster can also benefit from the collective assistance offered by the MBB with regards to its many support services, including the Enterprise Europe Network.  

Panels discussing organic and craft beer from a local and European perspective followed, with contributions from key industry representatives from ITALCAM (Germany), AVA Creations (Bulgaria), Out of the Box International (Belgium) and GAL Molise (Italy), and Malta Business Bureau (Malta) on a European level, and Lord Chambray, Huskie Craft Beer, The Beerhop, The Brew Grill & Brewery and Farsons on a local level, after which questions were fielded from the audience.

For more information, kindly contact TAPROOM Project Manager Michele Agius at magius@mbb.org.mt