Hellyers Road in running for national exporter awards

Hellyers Road Distillery is a finalist in the Small Business category of the Austrade Exporter of the Year Awards.

Started by dairy farmers 25 years ago, the distillery is located on Tasmania's northwest coast.orld Whi

“Many small distilleries will wax lyrical about their humble beginnings, but the story of Hellyers Road was anything but small and the risks were certainly significant. Investing millions of dollars into a very much fledgling industry, on the scale we did, was certainly a leap of faith,” Export Manager Kit Wilkinson explained.

“But it paid off, prior to Covid we were the largest selling Australian single malt producer for over a decade, a position we have never taken for granted. We’ve come across some additional challenges during the pandemic and sustaining demand has been the biggest challenge.”

“Our growth has been driven by national and international brand recognition. We now export our world class quality whisky, brewed from local ingredients on our Tasmanian doorstep, to over 20 countries around the world,” Mr Wilkinson said.

Hellyers Road Distillery receives up to 40,000 visitors a year, which is a third of all distillery visits in Tasmania.

“We’re very humbled to have such a large number of people interested in our product and what we do, especially because we are not based near Tasmania’s main cities,” Mr Wilkinson said.

Hellyers Road won Australia's Best Single Malt at this year’s World Whiskies Awards.

“The nomination in the Australian Export Awards is not just about Hellyers Road the distillery, but about the determination and resilience it takes to start something from the ground up, to challenge yourself and to be bold enough to journey into the unknown,” Mr Wilkinson added.

Hellyers Road Distillery crafts world-class whiskies from high-quality Tasmanian ingredients and sells them throughout the world.

The distillery produces premium single malt whiskies and cream liqueurs. It also supports other businesses in vodka production and waste product supply for the agricultural sector. Hellyers Road exports to around 25 countries. This includes 12 European countries, the UK, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Argentina, the US and Morocco.

The Australian Export Awards is one of the longest running business awards programs in Australia and the 60^th ceremony will be held on Thursday, 24 November. The announcement will be made by the Minister for Trade, Don Farrell. Hellyers Road is one of 84 finalists.