Craft beer meets high-performance sport

Images of bare-knuckle fighers from the Bridgeman archive used for limited edition Olympic packaging for Moa beer

Moa Beer, brewed in Malborough, New Zealand scored a coup when it replaced Steinlager as the official beer of the Olympic team this year.

Booze and high-performance sport are unlikely bedfellows yet Josh Scott, the founder and head brewer of Moa, is a top notch cyclist and is vying for a position in the team. Sunil Unka, Moa’s marketing manager also believes it’s a good fit, with Kiwi athletes usually punching well above their weight at the Olympics and Moa doing the same winning medals at international beer competitions.

According to Unka, “it’s about Kiwis supporting Kiwis. It shows that Moa has got to the point where it is now a legitimate challenger to the big brewers and, by sponsoring New Zealand’s athletes at the biggest sporting event in the world, it puts us in a premium category with consumers.” 

Moa’s cheeky approach is far removed from the preciousness that often typifies the marketing of artisan products. But then Moa is determined not to be the best-kept secret in town. “We want to get everyone talking about us,” says Unka.

Packaging design wins prizes

We would like to congratulate ONE DESIGN for winning gold and the trophy for the Moa packaging at the Brew NZ awards this year.  

We hope our images helped win the judges over!  
 

Bridgeman's Sporting Collections