u t h
Pacific Brewery
An aerial photo of the brewery in Lae.
In 1948 Bourke toyed with the idea
of building a brewery. But he knew
absolutely nothing about brewing
beer. On a visit to Australia he had al
ready bought three thousand stainless
steel drums which he thought would
make excellent beer barrels. But ex
perts soon made it clear to him that bar
rels like that would be no use at all in
the brewing industry. At first, therefore,
Bourke's dream foundered not only on
a lack of know-how, but more particu
larly on a shortage of funds. Tbm
Yeomans, one of Joe Bourke's friends
who lived in Australia, could see some
thing in his pal's idea and set about
gathering together the required capital,
equipment and personnel. Tbm
Yeomans' cousin Perce, a successful
businessman, was asked to join in the
venture. But Perce was sceptical: All
they had was an idea. They knew no
thing about breweries, how you build
them, how they work, how much they
cost'.
Searching
But Perce didn't abandon the two
some entirely. He knew the brewing ex
pert Fred Howard and put Tom and Joe
in touch with him. Fred Howard became
adviser to the Brewery Syndicate which
had meanwhile been established by
Bourke and he went off to Europe
searching for equipment. He bought a
small brewhouse, a semi- automatic bot
tle filler, storage tanks, a pasteuriser, a
bottle cleaning machine and a wort
cooler. On 23 December 1950 the South
Pacific Brewery Ltd. became a reality.
Almost two years after the start of
the brewery's construction the first SP
beer went on sale. The date was 26
November 1952. Papua New Guinea's
very first locally brewed beer was re
ceived with acclaim.
In its first few years South Pacific
Brewery flourished. In fact things went
so well that the small brewery in Port
Moresby attracted the interest of
Malayan Breweries Ltd. (MBL - a brew
ery group in which Heineken and
Fraser and Neave each have a 50%
stake). South Pacific Brewery accepted
a takeover offer from MBL and from
1955 onwards the brewery was able to
benefit from Heineken's technical
know-how and the marketing expertise
of the soft drinks manufacturer Fraser
and Neave.
Competition
A successful business tapping a new
market never remains alone for long.
Pretty soon South Pacific Brewery
found itself faced with local competi
tion. In 1957 its production capacity had
been increased with assistance from
Heineken. One year later Guinea Brew
ery opened its doors for business in the
town of Lae. However, Guinea Brewery
never gained a solid place in the market.
The early 'sixties were characterised by
a steady growth of South Pacific Brew
ery and less satisfactory results for its
rival. By 1965 the game was over for
Guinea Brewery and South Pacific
Brewery took over its production unit
in Lae.
As the brewery was not in optimum
technical condition, a master plan was
drawn up by Heineken Technisch Be
heer. Between 1966 and 1973 the produc
tion capacity was expanded in stages.
In the 'seventies South Pacific Brewery
South Pacific Brewery's renovated Gordon brewery in Port Moresby.
35
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN