Mountain Culture is an independent brewery founded by DJ and Harriet McCready in the Blue Mountains. Initially started as a small project aimed at selling directly to consumers in the taproom, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shift to online sales. Six years on, it has grown into one of Australia’s fastest-growing craft breweries.
The business expanded from brewing 60,000 litres in its first year to a projected 4.5 million litres this year, achieving 44% year-on-year growth in a flat market. It now operates four sites in New South Wales, a brewery and taproom in Melbourne, and three venues in Hobart, including a brewery.
The Challenge
Before partnering with OnTap Data in January, Mountain Culture faced significant data and reporting issues.
The liquor industry’s data is fragmented and inconsistent. Accessing clean and reliable information directly from wholesalers can be complex, time-consuming and difficult to decipher, with invoices and claims from ALM and Paramount being processed manually.
Each Monday, sales representatives spent about an hour each on allocating invoices and matching data. This often led to discrepancies between invoiced amounts and actual sales, resulting in inaccurate records.
The process was time-consuming, unreliable, and made it difficult to track true business performance.
The Solution
Mountain Culture leverages OnTap Data’s Supplier Information Management System (SIMS) to centralise and streamline visibility across its wholesale network.
Through SIMS, the Mountain Culture team gains real-time insights into both on- and off-premise sales performance, enabling smarter, faster decision-making across sales, marketing, and finance.
Key capabilities include:
- Automated data consolidation from all major wholesalers and their direct data providing a single, accurate view of invoice-level sales across Australia.
- Advanced reporting and analytics that track distribution breadth, sales frequency, and value performance by channel, state, or account type.
- Dynamic venue segmentation that automatically distinguishes on-premise customers (e.g. those purchasing kegs) from retail accounts for more precise market analysis.
- Custom dashboards and tailored reports in Board, co-designed with the Mountain Culture team to support sponsorship tracking, commercial partnerships, and channel-specific insights.
- Remittance and claims reconciliation, rep management, and lost sales analysis to drive commercial efficiency and identify growth opportunities.
- API integration with Mountain Culture’s CRM, allowing sales data from SIMS to feed directly into the CRM for streamlined field reporting, giving both management and sales reps increased visibility into territory performance and account-level trends.
Together, these solutions create a single source of truth for sales and commercial performance, empowering Mountain Culture to optimise every stage of its sales cycle from head office strategy to on-the-ground execution.
The Impact
The change was immediate. OnTap’s reporting enables the Mountain Culture team to identify distribution gaps and sales opportunities within minutes, not hours.
For example, they recently reviewed their performance across 38 Chambers stores, with OnTap Data indicating their range was active in 20. They were then able to target the remaining 18 stores, driving additional distribution and sales for the business.
Sales reps can now track new customer orders through wholesalers like ALM, Paramount and ILG and easily monitor growth by region or account.
The system is mobile-friendly, allowing reps to access real-time data in the field via iPads. Each user has access limited to their own territory, safeguarding data visibility while keeping reports relevant and focused.
Competitive Advantage
OnTap Data enables Mountain Culture to see, measure, and act on previously hidden or fragmented data.
Integrating with their CRM, Rhino, has been a significant step forward. Wholesale sales data now flows directly into the CRM, where reps can view order history, promotions, and customer activity without manual entry.
This integration saves time, reduces errors, and boosts efficiency across the sales team. It also provides leadership with accurate, consolidated performance visibility.
The Experience
John Andrews, National Sales Manager at Mountain Culture, describes the OnTap partnership as transformative: “The liquor industry’s data is messy. OnTap fixed that. It gave us visibility we didn’t have before and time back every week.”
“The system is easy to use, and Louise has been outstanding. She listens, builds what we need, and makes sure it works. It’s a genuine partnership.”
Thanks to OnTap Data, the business has shifted from reactive reporting to proactive management based on real-time data. Facts, not assumptions, drive every sales, marketing, and commercial decision. Data is no longer an obstacle; it’s a competitive advantage.
Want to know what your business could do with better visibility and insights? Contact us today at sales@ontapdata.com.au