BrewDog capital raising its way to carbon negativity

January 13, 2021
By Ioni Doherty

BrewDog’s crowd funded carbon killing initiative, Equity for Punks Tomorrow, has been wildly successful since its Australian launch in December. After just four weeks, the share offering is more than 80% of its way to the minimum target of $300K.

BrewDog is interested in progress, and urgent progress when it comes to sustainability. BrewDog’s commitment is that every dollar raised will be used to sustainably fuel BrewDog’s growth in Australia and New Zealand and to fund investment in groundbreaking, high-impact green infrastructure.

BrewDog’s Co-Founder, James Watt, said: “We believe carbon is our problem – the time to act is now, and it has never been more urgent. Equity For Punks Tomorrow is a critical part of the next evolution of BrewDog which will allow us to fund our sustainability plans by uniting investors across the globe to make a change today to ensure we have a planet to brew beer on tomorrow. We believe that the most sustainable businesses are going to be the ones who will prosper long term, so by investing heavily in sustainability, we believe we can grow strongly and add significant value to people’s investments too. All whilst doing great things for the planet and achieving some of our most ambitious projects to date.”  

Calvin McDonald oversees the BrewDog’s Asian operations and last year launched BrewDog’s bar in Shanghai via Zoom. He knows that there is much to do to raise BrewDog’s Australian presence. He said: “We want to accelerate what we are doing in Australia. And we want the consumer involved in where we are going.”

The craft beer community is an ever-growing one and Equity For Punks Tomorrow is a way to connect with this community in an authentic way, to bring customers into the business, giving them a viable – and ‘very cool’- investment opportunity, and to secure a cash injection that does not tie the brewer to ‘big banks’.

“Through our success in the UK, we have seen that a gradual build approach is the most sustainable way to build a business. We are not boom or bust,” said McDonald.

As much as BrewDog foster a gradual and authentic approach to business growth, they do not fly under the radar, nor do things by halves.

“We’ve always been proud of our innovative approach to all parts of our business – whether it be brewing, bars, crowdfunding or sustainability. Ultimately we want to be a brewery that people talk about, but we’ll always be defined by what we put in the glass and we’re really excited to be able to get our beer in peak condition to more people in Australia thanks to this share raise. We’ve always wanted to shorten the distance between ourselves and the people who enjoy our beer, and Equity for Punks is a great way to do that,” said McDonald.

The share offering is modelled on a campaign that was run in the UK in 2010 since which, Equity For Punks Tomorrow has amassed 150K members. The minimum share investment is $100 but McDonald said that there are plenty of five figure investors in the mix.

The capital raised will contribute to funding:

  • BrewDog Tomorrow Bars:  sustainable bars with zero waste, carbon neutral, and a depot for closed loop delivery solutions and plan to launch a series of these craft beer venues across Brisbane. 
  • Future-proof products: Investing in sustainable ways to brew and package beers and new products.
  • Build a refrigerated distribution programme: Investing in electric, refrigerated distribution across Australia to get our beer to you in the most sustainable, fresh way possible.
  • Build a beer hotel in Brisbane: Following on from the success of The DogHouse in Columbus Ohio, build a new eco-hotel in Brisbane that also caters for dogs.
  • Powering a sustainable brewing business: Installation of solar panels on the roof of the Brisbane brewery to make the most of the 130+ sunny days Brisbane sees every year and reduce the need for less-sustainable energy. 
  • Investment in infrastructure and people: The ability to fast-track progress and reach all of Australia fast is totally reliant on the stability of the infrastructure, and the ability of BrewDog’s people. 

Scotland is BrewDog’s home and home to BrewDog Forest: 830 hectares of land where the brewer plans to plant one million trees over the next few years. In Australia, BrewDog has partnered with Western Australia’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Project to offset all excess CO2 emissions. BrewDog is the world’s first carbon negative beer business.

BrewDog launched in the UK in 2007 and since then has grown to be the number one craft beer in Europe and the UK. Brisbane’s BrewDog brewery opened in 2019 after plans to set up in Newcastle fell over. The Queensland government incentivised them with a grant that was part of the Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund and they went on to spend $30 million to build a 50hl, 3000sqm brewing and canning facility with a restaurant, taproom and visitor centre in Murarrie on the Brisbane River.

Now at capacity, BrewDog are looking to expand nationally with flagship BrewDog bars in Sydney, Melbourne, a second site in Brisbane and Perth, all by the end of 2021. The business is closest to securing a location in Sydney. Drinks Trade will keep you posted.

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