A Canterbury brewery is facing a boycott after its owner called Māori males the "scourge of New Zealand" and called for them to be jailed.
The owner of Kaiapoi's Eagle Brewing NZ, David Gaughan, shared a comment on a 1 NEWS article posted to Facebook Wednesday about a Napier shooting.
His comment stated that "Māori are the scurge of New Zealand. The quicker we put them in prison the better. (sic)".
He added the opinion is aimed at "the male population. The ones who beat their missis (sic)".
The post has since been removed from Facebook and an apology was posted to Eagle Brewing NZ's Facebook page.
"We are aware of a comment circulating that may be misconstrued as racism. Firstly, Eagle Brewing totally denounces any form of racism and promotes a multicultural environment within its team of employees," the post read.
"Unfortunately the comment was poorly worded and was actually trying to highlight the unacceptable issue of violence against women.
"The author and the business are deeply sorry for any hurt arising from the comment."
The apology has now also been deleted.
Foodstuffs have pulled Eagle Brewing products from all Foodstuffs stores, including New World and Liquorland.
Beer Jerk & The Lumsden Freehouse are among other pop craft beer spots to pull Eagle Brewing products.
A number of other stockists also told Stuff they have stopped selling Eagle Brewery's products after the owner's comments.
“We were horrified at the comments made and really disappointed seeing such an attitude on display from someone in an industry that is generally fairly forward thinking in these matters," director at The Beer Library in Christchurch Garth Peterson told Stuff.
"All Eagle products have been pulled from our shelves and we won't be stocking it again in the future.”
Galbraith's Alehouse in Grafton, Auckland, has also stopped stocking Eagle Brewery beers.
“I just thought what he said was shocking and sickening, and I do not want to be associated with anyone who holds those kinds of views," Keith Galbraith says.
Gaughan posted on his Facebook page today, saying his comments were "misconstrued" and he would be taking a break from social media to rethink his "position with the business".
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