Konvoy, a leading keg rental firm in Australia and New Zealand, is to launch operations across the UK and Europe in early 2023.
The business will lead with its sharable keg rental offering at its core, with long-term rentals, also referred to as leasing, and its proprietary IoT (Internet of Things) tracking technology. Even if brewers choose to remain keg owners, Konvoy can help them track their assets.
The technology captures encrypted data that can pinpoint each keg’s precise location, enabling things like better rotation, fresher deliveries, faster collections, and greater reusability. In addition, the device logs other important data, such as temperature, to create a fleet of smart kegs that can keep getting smarter to meet the future demands of the drinks supply chain.
It also removes the need for manual tracking, scanning, and administration, while helping to minimise theft and losses, which is a global problem.
Konvoy is providing an ecosystem of assets, hardware, software, firmware, and connectivity, that can also be fitted retrospectively to existing keg fleets.
Christian Barden will head up the new UK and Europe business as chief executive, and Chris Beardow has been appointed operations director. Richard Atkinson and Tom Meakin have both been appointed business development director for the UK and Ireland, while Heiko Wiebel is business development director for Europe.
Adam Trippe-Smith, managing director and founder of Konvoy, said: “I am incredibly proud to announce this series of appointments, which runs along considerable growth plans for the Konvoy business. We are excited to launch officially in the UK and Europe in early 2023 as we continue to disrupt the global keg industry one keg at a time.
“Europe, particularly, has been a hard nut to crack in terms of convincing brewers of the huge potential cost reductions, improved margins, and reduced carbon footprint involved in leasing and renting kegs rather than buying your own. We are setting out to change all that and help bring the beverage industry into the 21st century.”
Christian Barden is former chief executive of Kegstar and a global beer industry veteran, who previously worked alongside Adam when they launched Kegstar into Europe in 2016. He said: “It will be incredible to get working with such a great team and technology platform, and evolve the world of keg management with Adam Trippe-Smith again.
“Drinks and hospitality have always been so innovative, and we’re excited to be ‘here for your beer’, wherever we can help customer supply chain experiences. We have a great team full of beer industry expertise, a ton of keg know-how, and a pool of smart kegs available to help customers become more efficient, more effective and more sustainable.”
He added: “The automatic collection of data through IoT systems like ours helps make monitoring and tracking frictionless, helps to improve the demand and supply process of draught drinks whilst eliminating human error. The connection of vehicles, equipment, and devices enables all parties to see a complete, end-to-end supply chain picture, from brewery to bar.”
