Thor Diesendorf (Thor’s Hammer) and Laurence Kain (Capital Brewing Co) have known each other since boyhood, but when their paths crossed later in life the two Canberra grassroots business owners formed a close bond. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Behind two of Canberra’s most recognised grassroots businesses is a quiet yet powerful transformation fuelled by a longstanding friendship.
Founder of Thor’s Hammer, Thor Diesendorf, and Capital Brewing Co co-founder Laurence Kain met as kids – their mothers were friends. But with a 14-year age gap, it wasn’t until later in life that their paths crossed and their friendship really kicked off.
In 2011, when Laurence opened craft beer mecca Honkytonks (with its sister cocktail lounge Hippo Bar upstairs), it felt right that the timber elements of the bar should come from Thor’s Hammer.
“We ended up building most, if not all of the furniture out of recycled timber,” Laurence says. “It was a whole experience, going through the different types of timber with Thor.”
It was after this that Laurence offered to help Thor with his marketing.
“The way people shop and communicate is changing all the time,” Thor says.
”When I started the business 30 years ago, all you needed was an annual Yellow Pages ad and a strong network – that was it.”
As a no-nonsense, hands-on type, Thor openly admits that marketing isn’t his cup of tea.
“I just want to make things. If it were up to me, I’d ignore marketing altogether and expect people to magically appear to buy them,” Thor says with a smile.
“Laurence transformed how we communicated, connecting us with the community in ways I hadn’t even considered. He helped us articulate the romance of what we do. It’s the history of the wood, the craftsmanship, the excitement of helping save timber from landfill, that helps the customer appreciate the value in purchasing timber or commissioning a piece from us.
“He also brought us into the digital age, setting up our first social media accounts and working on a strategic plan for us that ended up forming the nucleus of our marketing strategy. He got Thor’s Hammer out into the community. He really pushed me, and I needed it.”
It was a welcome push. Over time, Thor has seen a marked difference in the way people see the business and understand the product.
“It’s been amazing to see the way our recycling mission has increasingly resonated with people and how they’ve come to appreciate the quality of recycled timber,” he says.
“Early on, we tried to hide the nail holes to prove the timber was ‘as good as new’. Now, people appreciate the blemishes – they tell the story behind the wood.”
And while Laurence was influencing the trajectory of Thor’s Hammer, his new business idea was brewing in the background. Laurence credits Thor for giving him the push he needed to start Capital Brewing Co, which he did in 2016.
“Thor’s shown over 30 years that you can build a business that’s different, that takes bold, ethical steps, and still be successful,” Laurence says. “It’s inspired me, and I’ve seen firsthand how it’s influenced other business owners in Canberra.”
In recent years, shared challenges have brought the two even closer. While operating in entirely different spheres, both businesses face the same challenge: fending off the insidious rise of multinational knockoffs masquerading as artisanal products.
“A lot of people don’t realise that many beers that look like craft are actually made in fully automated, industrial brewing plants, pumping out tens of millions of litres a year, if not hundreds of millions of litres,” Laurence says.
“It’s a completely different, more wasteful and chemically intensive process than making real craft beer. Plus, these companies are owned by a duopoly that controls 90 per cent of the market.”
It’s a similar deal in Thor’s world, where furniture makers working to economies of scale are pumping products out of China that will likely be kicked to the curb a few years later.
Even without considering the environmental imperative, the economics of Thor’s Hammer make sense – it’s better in the long term to pay extra for quality that lasts generations.
Despite the challenges, in his 30th year of operation, Thor says business is going very well.
“We’ve doubled in size over the last five years,” Thor says.
“It’s been incredible to watch the business become a household name in Canberra.
“It shows we’re on the right track and motivates us to keep growing – maybe even for another 30 years.”
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