Looking at the photo, you can almost work this story out.
Let’s see, there’s a new Honda ZR-V, there’s some serious stainless steel storage systems such as you might find at a brewery and there’s some sort of monster mascot, so that means…
Well, not a lot when you look at it that way, so let’s start instead by introducing Andrew and Hannah Childs – co-founders and owners of the Behemoth Brewing Company in Auckland. Oh, and Churly the mascot, of course.
For those who can remember Woolf Mufflers in Mt Eden, the Behemoth Brewing Company’s HQ now occupies that space – and more besides, but we’ll come to that later – and because mufflers and breweries don’t have much in common, pretty much every wall has been replaced in the five years since Andrew and Hannah acquired the building.
While the brewery/brewpub has taken about five years to come into its own, the history behind the Behemoth Brewing Company goes back a little further.
It all started about 10 years ago when Andrew and Hannah – a brewer and a butcher respectively and with a not insignificant amount of individual success – decided to link their ‘’beer and bacon’’ skills to build what would become the Behemoth Brewing Company.
A significant helping hand in the form of equity funding saw Andrew and Hannah draw on Andrew’s skills as a brewer and Hannah’s talents in most areas of hospitality, gather up some 1100 – very much appreciated – chur-holders, adopt the Chur Monster as the company’s mascot for his “laid back and fun-loving approach to life in general” and it’s been go go go for the team ever since.
Today, the Behemoth Brewing Company is a big business, employing 50 people across its Auckland central and Titirangi (Churly’s Rise) operations.
Shortly, Wellington and later this year, Greenlane, will also be home to the Chur monster brand and that’s going to mean more team members signing up to be part of the Behemoth Brewing Company story.
“We are looking for new people right now,” says Hannah, and we reckon – just quietly – you couldn’t be joining at a better time.
While the company maintains a long standing and very successful business model for the South Island with distribution through Punky Brewster, Andrew and Hannah can work on and expand the business in the north.
And it is the northern business and the latest round of expansion as to why the Behemoth Brewing Company needs a fleet.
Hannah points out that if you had told her two years ago that she needed more than a car or two, she would have laughed, but the multi award-winning Behemoth Brewing Company has lived up to its name and become something of a monster in the micro brewing business.
And while Andrew and Hannah are big on brewing and butchery as well as building a behemoth business, fleet management is something that’s relatively new to the pair.
The business still has its first vehicle, a used Japanese import which is now well past its sell by date but still runs and still carries the Churly monster branding, but the company’s mainstream fleet is now made up of a van, a couple of utes and … more recently, four SUVs.
“We had done some analysis of our fuel costs,” explains Hannah, “and decided that we needed more vehicles, especially for our sales team, but the vehicles needed to be hybrids.
“Our initial choice of vehicles was first, not available and second, well, the customer experience didn’t really live up to our expectations and that led us to talk to Honda.
“I never really thought of Hondas as being the type of vehicle I’d have in a business I was a part of,’’ Hannah confesses, “but the team at Honda Newmarket really did go above and beyond. When we first started talking, Honda didn’t have a hybrid SUV available, but we were assured that a new model was on the way if we could just hold off for a couple of months. They really went out of their way to look after us as potential customers.”
Fortunately for Honda, the fleet development was an important part of Behemoth’s expansion, but not a critical one.
Hannah and Andrew were quite OK with giving Honda a little bit of breathing space and in the meantime, had some CR-Vs added to the fleet prior to the arrival of the ZR-V hybrid.
“The CR-Vs surprised us,” remembers Hannah. “Somewhere there’s a photo of one absolutely loaded with kegs and to be honest, I don’t think anyone here would have considered the CR-Vs to be suitable for our needs, but they have proven themselves, and our team likes driving them.”
“The whole ‘fleet upgrade’ was managed by Honda Newmarket too. Arata and the team there organised the signage using Onform signs and, because modernising the fleet was motivated by cost management, Honda took care of installing fleet management software packages from Teletrac Navman as well to help us measure our fuel consumption and mileage considerations.
“The whole experience of dealing with Honda Newmarket matches up well with our operating philosophy. Above and beyond service where everything looks easy and laid back – but you really are working hard behind the scenes – and focusing on delivering a product that customers want and enjoy.”
That’s not just the beer talking. Honda Newmarket maintained their professional relationship with Andrew and Hannah all the way through to when the new ZR-V arrived, and Hannah was invited to drive one.
At that point, Honda’s e:HEV hybrid product took over when it came to impressing the Behemoth Brewing Company.
Hannah remembers being impressed with the look of the ZR-V and how much it looked like a sports car from the front.
Inside, the feature that really stood out were the seats – ideal for long distance driving given their high levels of comfort and support.
“Of course, the hybrids are the top end ZR-Vs,” she adds, “so they come with all the bells and whistles. I have to admit to being really impressed with everything the ZR-V has on board.
“Up until now, we’ve had an unofficial policy that our people on the road get the best vehicles and Andrew and I get what’s left,” she says, the hint of a mischievous smile appearing, “but with the ZR-V as the Behemoth Brewing Company’s ‘hero’ vehicle, I’m not sure how long that policy will remain…”
