Online beer shop BeerBud.com.au has launched a crowd funding campaign on Pozible to help it source the best beers from all over the world and is offering supporters wholesale prices for five years in return.
“We’ve already identified thousands of beers from hundreds of breweries, which we can get our hands on,” said Andy Williamson, co-founder of BeerBud.com.au.
“But we need some help to purchase those beers up-front. So we’ve launched a crowd funding campaign where you can lend your support, vote for your favourite beers, and in return get 15 per cent off an unlimited amount of beer for up to five years, which is essentially wholesale prices.”
Supporters can choose between rewards offering beer at wholesale prices for one, three or five years, VIP access to pre-sales and special offers, or a mixed case pre-sale containing 16 of the best international beers they find.
The campaign follows a growing trend in the beer industry towards collaboration.
“What was once a fiercely cut-throat industry controlled by foreign owned multi-nationals is shifting towards a more friendly, collaborative environment of independent craft breweries, gypsy breweries and collaboration brews. Recently, this shift has seen the emergence of beer related crowd funding campaigns to raise money for a variety of projects, which have broken crowd funding records the world over,” said Williamson.
Last year California based Stone Brewing Company raised US$2.5m on Indiegogo, setting a new record for most contributors to any campaign. Closer to home, New Zealand’s burgeoning craft brewing industry has led the boom in equity crowd funding, with Renaissance Brewing raising more than NZ$700,000 in a week and a half and Yeastie Boys raising NZ$500,000 in under 30 minutes.
“Beer consumption in Australia is at 67 year lows, so clearly the industry hasn’t been meeting consumer expectations,” said Williamson. “So we’ve designed this campaign to be a collaborative platform where everyone can have their say and let us know what beers they want. If you want the highest rated beers in the world, we’ll go and get them. If there’s a favourite beer that you’ve never been able to get before let us know and we’ll go and find it.”
To help BeerBud.com.au bring the world’s best beer to Australia, click here.