Source: Snaffling Pig

Snaffling Pig will use the funds raised to expand into the £3.2bn pork market

Premium pork snack brand Snaffling Pig is about to turn to the crowd for investment to expand into the wider pork market with a raft of new product launches.

The Berkshire-based business will hit Crowdcube on Tuesday seeking £750k in exchange for a 7% stake – valuing the company at £10m.

Ahead of launching publicly, the campaign has already secured 60% of its target from 327 private investors.

“We are a business that started with £500 so I can’t imagine what it is like to get £750k. What we are going to be able to do with that money will be phenomenal,” said co-founder and CEO Nick Coleman.

Snaffling Pig’s “big plan” includes using the funds raised to scale up its next phase of growth by launching a range of chilled pork products, featuring sausages, bacon, cooked hams and pork joints.

“People may see us as a pork snack brand at the moment when in reality we want to be a pork brand,” Coleman added. “We have a whole range of different products that have not launched yet but that we have been working on in the background.”

Last January, Snaffling Pig started its venture into the £3.2bn chilled pork market with the launch of a range of gammon steaks featuring pork crackling into Sainsbury’s. The range is poised to expand into Tesco “imminently”.

The five-year-old company grew revenues by 39% to £3.2m in the year ending May, through the sale of over three million packets from major retailers. It is now on track to achieve turnover of £5.2m this year, growing a further 63%.

Snaffling Pig is hoping to reach sales of £30m within the next five years through a combination of snacks and chilled products sales.

Snaffling Pig’s range – including pork scratchings, sauces, beers, ciders and peanuts - is currently available from a wide array of retailers and pubs including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Ocado and Co-op among others.

Part of the funds raised will go towards the creation of a “van sales operation” to onboard a wider number of pubs to add to the 450 already stocking Snaffling Pig’s products, Coleman added.

The company is also the maker of several gift sets – including a ceramic barbecue and pork crackling advent calendars – retailing in Debenhams, John Lewis, Selfridges and Fenwick.

The business’ current focus was to grow the brand ahead of considering any exit strategy, Coleman explained.

He said: “In the back of our head we know we have to plan for the future but right now our focus is to get the money into the company and build the brand in the right way.”

The latest funding push follows an investment of £70k from Dragon’s Den’s Nick Jenkins, secured in 2016.