A well-known Devon brewery is asking loyal supporters to back
its £30,000 Crowdfunder appeal...and if they do, they’re in line for a series of awards, including having an ale named after them.
Hunters Brewery has faced a tough 12 months due to COVID-19 restrictions on trading and it is now hoping to emerge from lockdown in a better position, but says it needs support for the Crowdfunder in order to survive.
Paul Walker, co-owner of the brewery, which once got a helping hand from TV business guru Alex Polizzi, says: “We need Devon and all our loyal supporters behind us to stay in business producing our wonderful Devon Ales. It's crunch time.
“We're trying to make it to the summer; with the pubs and restaurants shut we have lost 80% of our trade. It's starting to get very uncomfortable for our bank account.
“We're not asking for charity, we're asking people to invest in our future and we've put together some amazing rewards to thank you those who do for their support.”
Those rewards include invites to special brewery parties and tours, exclusive merchandise, or stakeholder discounts. Or if you make a major donation, you could find yourself with your own labelled beers or even a brew which is named after you.
Paul adds: “We've built a family business, created employment opportunities in the local area and we hope brought a lot of joy to people’s lives along the way.
“Alex Polizzi put our business on track in The Fixer on The BBC. We made our bottling plant a success, gained deals with Morrisons and Co-Op as well as producing all the bottled beers for the Turtle Bay Restaurant chain.
“But Covid meant all our exciting plans for new brews and community events came to a sudden stop. That was twelve months ago and since then we've been without a proper income. We've begged, borrowed and bargained to reach this point, but when the money runs out options are few. This has left us very vulnerable.
“We want to stay a small, passionate microbrewery, we want to increase capacity in our bottled beers, bring back our Walkers range, more brewery tours and to thank everyone that's helped us.
“We have an opportunity now with crowd funding to turn this into a positive. We need to raise £30,000, to give us breathing room. This will give us the new start we need after COVID-19. When the pubs are open and the restaurants are full again our cash flow will be healthy again.
“We've sunk everything we can into the brewery, we just want to survive - it's within touching distance.”
The Crowdfunder appeal can be found here.
