Zeffer cider looks to raise $1.8m capital

Just a week after rolling out Hawke's Bay-made cider across the nation's New World outlets last week, Hastings-based Zeffer Cider Co., is now aiming to raise $1.8 million to further the company's reach.

New Zealand's largest independent, dedicated cider producer, Zeffer Cider Co. has gone from strength to strength in the wake of a successful NZD$1.2million funding round last year - and is now seeking additional investment to capitalise on plans for 2018 and beyond.

Since the raise in March 2017, the company successfully launched into the Chinese market, achieving $365,000 in sales within its first full year, and has also established a new state-of-the art cidery in Hawke's Bay with capacity to produce over two million litres of cider a year.

Overall, the company has grown sales by 70 percent in the last year – from $1.6 million to $2.8 million – managing to exceed their forecast by over $140,000.

Zeffer has also recently enjoyed a number of awards successes – taking out the Champion title at the 2017 International Cider Awards in London, as well as the Champion Cider in the two Cider categories at the 2018 New World Beer and Cider Awards.

The company is now seeking an additional $1.8m in funding, based on a pre-investment valuation of $8.26 m.

Funds would be dedicated to helping the company further grow its footprint in the Chinese market, as well as deliver on three clear strategic opportunities in order to sustainably grow to become an 10 m plus revenue company by 2021.

Chief executive Josh Townsend said with the international cider market currently expanding at an incredibly rapid rate – forecasted to grow by up to $5.5 billion dollars over the next five years – one of the major opportunities for the company lies in overseas markets.

"We already export to nine countries around the world.

"China is by far our largest market, and that's one of the export markets we're focusing our efforts for the next three years. This next funding round will be critical to helping us double down on our Chinese export strategy, partnering closely with local distributors, and recruiting additional human resources to drive these efforts – including a China sales manager to oversee our China sales team.

"At a local level, cider is already a $100million+ category and we want to help further grow the category while capturing more market share, and we'll be increasing human and marketing resources to achieve this. We are also opening a new tap room at the official home of Zeffer in Hawke's Bay in October this year. It's a truly exciting junction in the company's growth story, and we're looking forward to welcoming further Zeffer cider lovers as shareholders, to take part in the journey," says Townsend.