26/05/2026
COâ‚‚ in New Zealand: a supply problem is coming, the only question is when.
If you’re running a brewery or beverage operation in New Zealand and still treating CO₂ as a commodity you can “just buy”, it’s worth taking a closer look at what’s coming.
Recent NZ reporting, including RNZ’s coverage on scientists working to secure the country’s carbon dioxide supply, makes one thing very clear: New Zealand’s CO₂ supply is structurally fragile, and that fragility isn’t being fixed overnight.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/576396/scientists-work-to-secure-supply-of-carbon-dioxide
We rely on a small number of industrial sources. When those plants reduce output, shut down for maintenance, or face economic pressure, beverage producers feel it fast, through allocation limits, sudden price jumps, or last minute scrambling during peak production.
This isn’t hypothetical. We’ve already seen it.
What the NZ media has consistently highlighted over the past few years through outlets like RNZ, Stuff and BusinessDes, is in NZ we have:
• Limited domestic CO₂ production with very little redundancy
• Imported CO₂ as a fallback that is expensive, carbon intensive and uncertain
• Pricing increasingly influenced by energy costs and industrial production decisions, not beverage demand
RNZ’s reporting goes a step further, showing scientists and industry actively looking for ways to secure supply. When that level of attention appears, it’s a sign the risk is real, and growing.
The next 5–10 years won’t be calmer Looking ahead, breweries should be planning for:
• More frequent supply disruptions, not fewer
• Higher average CO₂ costs, even outside crisis periods
• Increasing pressure to justify CO₂ use from both a cost and sustainability perspective
In short: waiting for the market to “settle down” may turn out to be the most expensive option.
Why more breweries are acting before they’re forced to.
Across Europe, many breweries have already decided that COâ‚‚ security is too important to leave to external supply alone. Breweries have moved to recover and reuse their own fermentation COâ‚‚, dramatically reducing exposure to shortages and price spikes.
That same approach is now very relevant for New Zealand and Australia.
Through Viniquip’s partnership with Dalum, we’re working with breweries to implement proven CO₂ recovery units that:
• Capture CO₂ you’re already producing
• Reduce dependence on external supply
• Lower long term CO₂ purchasing costs
• Improve sustainability metrics without compromising b**r quality
This isn’t future technology. It’s operating today in breweries that chose to act before supply became a crisis.
A simple question for NZ breweries
The next CO₂ squeeze won’t arrive with much warning, and by the time it does, costs and options will be very different.
If COâ‚‚ availability or pricing would materially impact your brewery, now is the time to have the conversation.
Talk to us about what COâ‚‚ recovery could look like for your brewery, before supply tightens and costs get harder to control.
Because CO₂ may be invisible in the glass, but it’s becoming impossible to ignore in the business.
Shortages of natural gas in 2023 were acutely felt in food-based industries.
