Dunedin-founded beer brand Speight’s celebrated its 150th anniversary yesterday with an event at its Rattray St brewery — the same, original, site it had operated at since 1876.
Founded by James Speight, Charles Greenslade and William Dawson, Speight’s is the oldest operational brewery in New Zealand.
Lion chief operating officer and New Zealand country director Craig Baldie said he hoped the people of Dunedin were as proud of the milestone as they were.
‘‘The people of Dunedin have played such an important role in getting us to this point in time,’’ Mr Baldie said.
‘‘If it wasn’t for the local support over the many, many decades, we wouldn’t be in this position today.
‘‘We know where the brand comes from, we know it’s deeply rooted in the South and it’s been one of our greatest assets.’’
To mark the occasion, Speight’s released a limited-edition whisky collection based at the Dunedin brewery and a ‘‘Gold Medal hokey pokey ice cream’’ in collaboration with local company Patti’s & Cream.
The brewery has also advertised complimentary tours every 30 minutes over the weekend, between 10am and 4pm.
‘‘My time working at Speight’s has been great,’’ Mr Hamburger said. ‘‘I just enjoy coming to work every day — I’m a bit of a work junkie.’’
Brewing technician Bill McAdam, who started working at Speight’s in 1982, said it was a Dunedin ‘‘icon’’.
While prominent factories such as Cadbury’s had bitten the dust, Speight’s was still here.
‘‘It’s always been there, and I think a lot of people respect that,’’ Mr McAdam said.
Mr Baldie said there were few businesses in Dunedin, let alone New Zealand, that had stood the test of time the way Speight’s had.
Craft beer brands had become increasingly popular and held a significant share of the beer market, but he believed Speight’s was ‘‘very well placed’’ for the future.
Speight’s estimated it sold 1 million litres every week and accounted for one in every five beers sold in the country.
And while Stats NZ data showed total volume of beer available for consumption fell 10% to 265 million litres last year, Speight’s reported 4.4% growth over the same period.
Speight’s was a brand locals were very proud of, Mr Baldie said.
‘‘We’ve had this catchphrase since the 1980s, ‘Pride of the South’, and I definitely believe people in Dunedin feel that when they pick a Speight’s.’’
