This week, UK-based craft brewery Honest Brew finished its equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. Originally looking to raise £300,000, the startup managed to capture over £400,000 from nearly 450 backers. Now, Honest Brew’s founder, Andrew Reeve is ready to share his thoughts on using the funding method.
During his interview with Craft Beer World, Reeves revealed how Honest Brew stands out from other craft brewing companies:
“HonestBrew has established itself as a leader in the online craft beer market. We have 18 months of growth and learning behind us that have allowed us to build a service that our customers love, supported by strong technology. The team at HonestBrew HQ are incredibly passionate about what we’re doing and have expertise in everything ranging from beer (obviously!) to technology to marketing to operations. We’re proud to have some great industry veterans as investors and advisors. Plus we’re pretty proud of the Honest brand we’ve built.”
Noting UK’s craft beer industry’s growth over the past year, Andrew explained:
“In 2014, for the first time in the UK’s history there was more beer sold to the off trade (home) than the on trade (bars and restaurants). There is a huge shift in people’s consumption habits – they’re drinking beer at home, sharing it with friends and pairing it with food. Internet shopping is projected to double in the next five years and food and drink purchased online has increased 20% pa in the last five years. These trends plus people’s increasing love of craft beer have created an amazing opportunity for HonestBrew. This crowdfunding round will help us to scale our business and make sure we’re getting great craft beer to the doors of as many people as we can.”
Also sharing where the Crowdcube funds will go, Reeves stated:
“The funds will allow us to continue to scale – we’ll be able to extend our marketing activity to find more craft beer fans who love our product. We also have a number of technology plans including improving both the back end functionality and the experience our customers have when they use HonestBrew. We’re also keen to bring more exclusive beers to the UK – beers that have never been available in the UK before. We have some other cheeky developments which we can’t share yet but keep an eye out to see what’s happening first.”
In regards to being a craft brewery in the UK, Andrew added:
“I think there are lessons to be learned from other business models operating outside of craft beer than looking at US beer clubs. Craft beer ‘clubs’ take a traditional approach to a subscription model with a one size fits all model. We’re focused on changing the concept of a beer club and offering each and every customer a personalised service. Everyone has different tastes in beer, so it seems crazy to send everyone the same selection every month. Other great business that share our view on personalisation is Pact Coffee, Gousto & Cornerstone. These are businesses that are innovating in their own market just like we are with beer.”
