The campaign is part of a three-year plan to accelerate growth by expanding the existing product ranges and introduce it to more markets. If the brand is successful in hitting its target, it will look to increase its current product offering by 300%.
The company is also expected to grow its sales and marketing teams to deliver its marketing strategy, which will include increased PR, events, digital communications and advertising, which together will hopefully drive awareness and deliver higher sales.
George Rice, founder and managing director of Serious Pig, explained how he intended to use the money raised. “We intend to use the new investment to grow the team, particularly in the sales & marketing and operations areas,” he said. “We will develop a marketing program that includes increased PR, events, digital communications and advertising, which together will drive awareness and deliver higher sales.”
The snacks are currently stocked in Tesco, Whole Foods, Fortnum & Mason and all UK BrewDog sites. The brand has seen growth of 36% since 2014, and is valued in excess of £8m, with £152,000 of sales in Q4 of 2018 alone.
Rice added: “The mission, when we started out, was to transform the snacking sector, much in the way craft beer has in the brewing sector.
“The range of premium snacking products began with Snacking Salami and has expanded to 10 products, with more in the pipeline. Our 100% crunchy cheese snack is, we believe, a unique pub snack and has quickly become our best-seller.
“When we launched, we sold through a number of independent pubs and small pub groups. Since then, we have added to these outlets, with customers across a number of sectors, including travel, retail, convenience, and larger on-trade groups. In the last three years, our snacks have become so popular that the Co-op, Whole Foods and Tesco now all stock Serious Pig.”