The shakeup of brewing ingredients suppliers in Australia has continued with the announcement that Cryer Malt and Bintani are effectively swapping malt suppliers.

Cryer Malt has agreed a long-term deal with German firm Palatia Malz GmbH from next year which will see it supply Palatia’s BESTMALZ specialty and base malt.

The agreement with the 120-year-old, family-owned German company will begin in 2020. As a result, Cryer Malt will supply BESTMALZ’s product range of 50 varieties of malt, to distillers and brewers across Australia.

Currently, Cryer Malt supplies imported malt from Weyermann, another German family business.

Hot on the heels of this announcement, Bintani Australia issued a statement saying that it has become the exclusive supplier of Weyermann malts, which will be distributed from its Australian warehouses and two facilities in New Zealand.

Peter Meddings MD Bintani Australia & New Zealand said this is an exciting outcome for Bintani.

“Our family and our company have always striven to bring the highest quality and most innovative products to the market, playing our part to keep the industry vital and constantly evolving.

And it’s clear the same thing can be said for the Weyermann’s and their business.”

In a press release, David Cryer, the general manager of Cryer Malt said that the move would benefit Australian brewers.

“Giving customers access to the varieties of malt that helps them differentiate in the marketplace is part of our commitment to the local industry,” he said.

“By building onto our existing relationship with BESTMALZ out of the UK and US, we are able to bring our customers a top-quality product backed by Cryer Malt’s reputation for exceptional customer service.”

Dr. Axel Goehler, Chairman and grandson of the founder of Palatia Malz, said that global distribution partners like Cryer Malt were the lifeblood of the business.

“We abide by the claim that ‘all business is local’ and are therefore excited to have Cryer Malt as our trusted network partner in one of our key future growth markets,” he said.

The move follows rearrangements of strategic partnerships in the Australian brewing ingredients supply industry.

In October last year in was announced that Bintani would be partially acquired by US firm Rahr Corporation, owner of Brewers Supply Group (BSG).

At the time, the sale caused waves in the industry, with hop supplier Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) terminating supply contracts with the group after it was acquired by BSG’s owners, a company which YCH considered a competitor. This was followed by a lawsuit from Bintani over the contract severance.

However they resolved their legal battle by Christmas 2018 and YCH partnered with Cryer Malt for Australian distribution.

The year before, competitor Cryer Malt was acquired by Barrett Burston Malting, a GrainCorp company. Malting companies in the GrainCorp group include Brewcraft USA and Country Malt Group (CMG) in the United States and Brewers Select in the United Kingdom.