The Bundaberg Journey

Since the Fleming family bought Bundaberg Brewed Drinks in 1968 they have been brewing non-alcoholic soft drinks using real, fresh ingredients.

“We work with farmers and grow ginger ourselves so that we have the best ginger constantly for our ginger beer”, says John McLean, CEO of Bundaberg Brewed Drinks. “We can dry the ginger right when we want to brew it.”

Bundaberg Brewed Drinks know that good brewing takes time.

“We take three days to make ginger beer and seven days to make lemon lime and bitters. The brewing adds complexity that a standard soft drink just can’t get, no one takes time like we do,” he says.

A wide range of flavours like pink grapefruit and guava set Bundaberg Brewed Drinks apart from other soft drink brands, and the best place to find the range is at Drakes.

“Drakes stock our product range, and it gives different people an opportunity to find their favourite flavour.”

There’s a ritual around the iconic Bundaberg stubby bottle and its “strange” rib cap.“Flipping the bottle before you drink it puts the ingredients back into suspension, and that gives us the ability to deliver the flavour exactly the way we want to deliver it, from our brewery to the consumer.”

“We do things a little bit differently at Bundaberg,” John says. “Bundaberg Brewed Drinks are continuously evolving, for fifty years we’ve been going strong and we’re planning for the next fifty.”

“The support from Drakes has always been very good. We can’t be successful without really good partners, and Drakes have been a good partner from the beginning. I envisage that Bundaberg Brewed Drinks and Drakes will continue this great partnership, to see both companies grow further in the future.”