Hofmeister has breezed through a £1.4m fundraising goal with 20 days to spare, as investors flocked to back the resurrected beer brand.
Once the fourth-bestselling beer brand in the UK, Hofmeister returned in 2017 after being bought by current owners Spencer Chambers and Richard Longhurst. One of the UK’s first mainstream lagers, it had enjoyed massive popularity in the 80s and 90s in part thanks to zany TV ads featuring ‘George the Bear’ before falling to higher-quality brews.
”Among its core target audience it’s a more memorable brand than other world lagers,” said Chambers.
“If you’re over about 38 years old, you see Hofmeister and it’s one of two reactions. Either it’s a smile of recognition, or you think ‘what’s that crap doing back?’ Even if you think that, if you’re prepared to just give it a try, I think that question answers itself.”
Reinvented as an authentic Bavarian brew, with ingredients regulated under German law, Hofmeister has achieved 1,314% turnover growth over the past five years by targeting what it perceives as a gap in the world beer market.
The Lazarean lager brand has now raised £1.5m from investors on crowdfunding platform Republic, offering 6.7% of its equity. The raise valued Hofmeister at £20.5m pre-raise.
Hofmeister said it would plough raised funds into building brand awareness through a “high-profile, multimedia campaign” to “communicate the more elevated experience Hofmeister now brings”.
The company said it had tripled distribution in the past few years, and is now stocked in 765 outlets. It has already secured national wholesale listings with LWC, Molson Coors and Matthew Clark, and recently secured an exclusive distribution deal with Keystone Brewing Company, making it the only world lager in Keystone’s portfolio.
Sales have already jumped 44% in the four months since the Keystone deal was signed.
The brand’s rapid growth has come in part thanks to its ready-baked brand appeal. Taken off the market in 2003 when then-owner Scottish Courage prioritised growth for brands like San Miguel and Strongbow, the Hofmeister brand was at one point worth £100m.
Stil enjoying over 40% brand awareness in its category among UK adults, the brand is now “ready, with the help of [its] iconic bear George, to fill the Bavarian-sized gap in the premium world beer market”.
The brand has three core product lines, including a helles lager, weisse wheat beer and the Bearly Any 0.5% helles lager.
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