The Malta Business Bureau’s final conference for the Erasmus+ ‘TAPROOM Project: Promoting the Production and Marketing of Organic and Craft Beer’ was held at the Farsons Brewhouse in December.

The project, which delved into the processes necessary to get from farm to beer glass, aimed to “elevate Malta’s and Europe’s craft and organic beer industry,” TAPROOM project manager Michele Agius says.

Five national clusters of brewers were created as a result – one from each of the five partnering countries participating in the TAPROOM Project, namely Malta, Germany, Bulgaria, Belgium and Italy.

“Thanks to the willingness of the brewers, national clusters came together in a natural manner, to collaborate instead of competing,” Agius says, noting that these clusters can not only work on a national level, but also cooperate with the other four clusters transnationally.

Looking back on the partners’ meetings in Bulgaria and Munich, during which the partners met physically and updated one another on their respective work areas, Agius applauds the partners’ hands-on approach, having visited brewers and listened to their challenges and needs in order to better mould the project outputs, so as to guarantee that their potential is maximised fully.

Speaking at the conference in December, a number of key industry representatives from each country cluster shared their views on promoting craft beer and brewing as part of Europe’s cultural heritage.

Among them was Igor Jojkic, from Belgium’s Out of the Box International – a European Network bringing together different organisations advocating for more innovative and citizen-centered policies on European and city level.

Brewing is not just a business but it is also part of European cultural heritage. Therefore, the cooperation between European brewers is crucial in order to be able to remain competitive and maintain a high-quality standard

“TAPROOM underlines the need for a smarter, greener and innovative Europe,” he said.

Describing beer as “not just a beverage, it is an expression of culture”, Jojkic went on to call for further investment in advocacy efforts towards European platforms, national and regional representations in Brussels, so as to provide more support to the organic and craft beer ecosystem.

Roberto D’Amico, from Italy’s Gal Molise Verso il 2000, said: “The production of craft and organic beer as an agricultural-related activity and by building a brewing supply chain, can be a great development opportunity for the agricultural sector and the inland areas of our countries.”

Agius presenting the TAPROOM Project during the Malta Business Bureau’s final conference.

From this perspective, he noted that “projects such as TAPROOM are crucial to spreading culture and awareness with respect to craft and organic productions”.

Delving into the marketing side of things on a micro level, Anelia Haradinova from AVA Creations – a Bulgarian NGO working in the field of European cooperation in education and training – said that “before engaging in any digital marketing, the brewers should have a very clear and precise concept on what message they want to convey and whom they want to convey it to, as the digital tools and strategies should be designed and geared according to the target audience and the aim of the delivered message”.

Making a case for utilising a combination of digital tools in order to expand their impact, she added: “The brewers should not forget that craft beer is, after all, a product that is to be tasted in order to be appreciated and liked. Thus, they need also to pay attention, participate and organise real-life events that will draw together their beer and their customers, so that they can taste and fall in love with it.”

Rounding off the European representatives, Martina Agosti from Germany’s ITALCAM said: “Looking at the craft beer sector in particular, it is clear that brewing is not just a business but it is also part of European cultural heritage. Therefore, the cooperation between European brewers is crucial in order to be able to remain competitive and maintain a high-quality standard.”

Certainly, there is much that can be done, and it is clear that the momentum and spirit of collaboration spearheaded by the project has paved the way for exciting times ahead for the industry in Europe.

Looking towards the future, Agius reveals that discussions are already under way for the preparation of a TAPROOM 2.0.

“There are three primary future objectives which MBB, as the leader of the project, aims to achieve. The first two, on the short-term perspective, aim to extend the potential and benefit of the project outputs for as long as possible, to increase the value of the original investment by Europe and the partner organisations,” he says, adding that this extension can be obtained by means of promoting the outputs way beyond the project lifeline, ensuring longevity and accessibility for interested individuals and entrepreneurs not only from Malta or from the five European countries, but also from other European countries and beyond.

Agius reiterates MBB’s commitments to enact more profound support to the national brewing cluster by means of the Enterprise Europe Network and other support opportunities from local authorities. He adds that in the longer-term, TAPROOM 2.0 is expected to build upon the already-fostered cooperation among the five European partners to work together and improve their many outputs, while also focusing on growing the national clusters, including more brewers and entrepreneurs, providing better quality content and tailoring the project towards a direction which is more helpful and in tune with the national brewers.

For more information, contact TAPROOM project manager Michele Agius at magius@mbb.org.mt.