British low-alcohol beer maker Big Drop Brewing has received £500,000 in funding after seeing its sales grow by 775% in the last 12 months.
On track for revenue of £1 million in 2019, the brewery has set its sights on dominating the low- and no-alcohol craft beer sector in the UK.
The new funding will enable Big Drop to increase marketing and production. The company will be moving some of its brewing to mainland Europe to meet the dual challenges of Brexit and satisfying increased demand. It is also looking at brewing options in Canada to reduce its carbon footprint and to provide a gateway into North America.
Founder Rob Fink decided to develop Big Drop in 2016 after noticing a lack of flavoursome low- and no-alcohol beers in bars and supermarkets.
Big Drop never uses an artificial alcohol extraction process. Instead, it brews the beer to strength “allowing the full flavours and aromas to shine through”.
The company gained its first major supermarket listing in September and is now available in Tesco, Ocado, Beerhawk and several other online retailers as well as a growing number of on-trade outlets. Globally, Big Drop is sold in Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, Systembolaget in Sweden and Alko in Finland.
The brewer sells a lager, stout and pale ale as well as other limited editions, all of which contain no more than 0.5% ABV.
Fink said: “We aim to raise the standards for low- and no-alcohol beers and our numbers reflect that customers love what we do. The latest investment will unlock more resource, production efficiencies and sales potential both in the UK and globally.
“We’re winning awards against full-strength beers, demonstrating that we are meeting a genuine need and delighting even dedicated alcoholic beer lovers. There’s a huge potential audience out there for us and we’re only just beginning. Stout is now the fastest growing beer variety in the UK due to the craft beer boom, and our version is doing phenomenally well. We look forward to see what 2019 has in store.”
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