US entrepreneurs, Barrett Garese and Rudy Jahchan have launched a 99 cent app that is designed to help beer lovers differentiate between genuine craft beer, and beer that is marketed as craft, but is in fact owned by big brewing companies.
Aptly named Craft Check, Garese told Fortune Magazine that the idea came to him while standing in his local liquor store where he found himself faced with the question; "which beers were craft and which were just marketed as craft?"
Consumers simply scan the barcode from a bottle, can or packaging and a message will pop up either congratulating the beer lover for picking up a genuine craft beverage as defined under the US Brewers Association, or warn them that the beer in question is indeed a product of one the big industry players:
"Careful! What you've got there is an imitation craft brew from one of the big guys. It's got all the soul of a spreadsheet. Crafty, but not Craft," the apps states.
The app is not available in Australia or New Zealand at this stage, however the importance of distinguishing between genuine craft and ‘crafty’ beer has been an issue that consumer watchdog Choice has brought to light.
A recent review of craft beer by Choice found that many popular ‘crafty’ beer brands in Australia were in fact dominated by Japanese-owned Lion and London-headquartered SABMiller.
“By definition a craft brewery is a brewery that produces a limited amount of beer and The Australian Craft Brewers association thinks a craft beer is independent, traditional and 100% Australian owned, with no ownership or control by a major brewer,” says Choice.
“This hasn’t stopped Coles and Woolworth’s recently entering the craft beer market with Steamrail Ale (Coles) and Sail and Anchor (Woolworths).”
