meet the women breaking the gender divide in food
“Meet women who are leaders in their fields – fields that are traditionally the preserve of men. And they’re smashing it, writes Kate Gibbs.”
When Danielle Allen and Jayne Lewis founded Melbourne brewery Two Birds, Australia’s first female-owned brewery, in 2011 they didn’t want their gender to take the focus off their beer. But as the business grew – last year Two Birds increased its production to more than two million litres of beer a year – the pair saw an advantage in being women.
“We’re proud of the fact we’re unique, and in such a competitive industry. We’re now pushing that unique selling point. People love knowing it’s two women behind it,” says Allen, the sales and marketing half of the brewing duo.
Lewis, the brewer, visited the Little Creatures brewery in Fremantle when she was trying to work out what to do and thought “one day I will work here”. And she did. Then she became head brewer at Melbourne’s Mountain Goat.
Naturally, she doesn’t accept the idea that brewing is a man’s world. “When I started 15 years ago I was aware of one other woman in the country brewing. Now there are more females getting into brewing as the market grows.
“I love beer. If you don’t drink beer you don’t think of making beer.” She advises women to drink up.
Read the rest of the story, published in Sunday Style magazine, here.