Brewery to build national park - for beer!
06 Nov 2007
Brewery company Tui, is turning its sights from beer to the environment … "Yeah Right."
The brewery has announced it is building a "Tui National Park" at Tui Breweries in the small North Island town of Mangatainoka.
It is restoring the iconic Tui building and is spending half a million dollars on creating 4000 square metres of lawn, planting 2000 native trees, establishing a museum and revamping surrounding buildings.
The refurbishments will create a playground-type space for visitors to enjoy, with management brainstorming creative ideas including running a flying fox from the top of the building across the Mangatainoka River.
"I want people to be able to lie on the grass in the sun in front of the building, or kick a ball around. It's a big boys' playground," says DB Breweries Commercial Manager Nick Rogers.
Currently the site’s iconic art deco building is surrounded by drab iron sheds, a disappointment for current visitors familiar with building’s depiction in Tui ads. However, DB Breweries Commercial Manager Nick Rogers said the public did realize that the ‘gorgeous women’ in the commercials did not really work at the brewery - although the head brewer is in fact a woman.
The revamp is expected to be finished by Christmas.
Background
Tui beer was founded in 1889 by Henry Wagstaff, with the brand now being DB Breweries biggest selling beer in the central North Island. Tui beer is an East India Pale Ale with a strong, smooth taste.
Since the launch of its well-recognised advertising campaign in the 1990s, sales have skyrocketed. The campaign promotes the Tui brand using hard-case kiwi humour, resulting in a loyal following of beer drinkers.
The on-site art deco brick brewing tower was built in 1931 but because the builders failed to install stairs or a lift, it wasn’t put to use until 1938. Though no longer in use, the building remains one of New Zealand’s notable industrial buildings and is a prime marketing tool for the Tui advertising campaign. The building is currently protected by the Historic Places Trust.
The brewery and café in Mangatainoka attracts more than 27,000 people per year, some who pray to the building, aping a commercial that ran in 1999 suggesting the tower has a semi-religious power to inspire devotion from Tui drinkers.
Mangatainoka is a small settlement in the Tararua district of the North Island. The town is located between Pahiatua to the south and Woodville to the north.
http://www.tui.co.nz/
http://www.dbbreweries.co.nz/
These topics may also be of interest to you
|
