Totally Natural Solutions (TNS), supplier of natural and sustainable hop oils to the brewing industry, has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, International Trade.
Colin Wilson, managing director of Totally Natural Solutions
The honour is recognition of the UK-based company’s ‘outstanding short-term growth’ in overseas sales over the last three years. Since 2019, TNS has seen its overseas sales grow by 89%, following an export strategy that focused on beverage markets in United States, Europe, and South East Asia. TNS currently provides its natural hop oil solutions to more than 650 breweries worldwide.
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is regarded as one of the most prestigious business awards programmes in the world. The international trade award is given to businesses that demonstrate how they are excelling in overseas marketplaces, through clear delivery of products while identifying new markets and upholding social, economic, and environmental best practices.
TNS recently celebrated a successful year of growth. Turnover increased by 44% from £2.7 million in 2020 to £3.9 million in 2021. It has also seen strong growth in its zero-alcohol range, HopZero, which is designed to help brewers create quality alcohol-free products in a sustainable way.
Colin Wilson, founder and managing director of Totally Natural Solutions, said: “We’re thrilled to have won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for our success in international trade. It’s testament to the incredible hard work and dedication of our whole team over the past three years, where we have managed to significantly grow our sales at home and abroad despite the sector’s challenging trading environment.
“Around 70% of our business is outside of the UK, so exports are vital to our success and continued growth. We are seeing significant increase in export sales in many markets, with South Korea currently our fastest growing, and growing interest in Australia and New Zealand amongst others.
“Across the business, sales have grown significantly, as brewers experiment with more efficient brewing methods, including how to use hop oils to expand business and product offerings to overcome the ongoing challenges faced by the industry. Recent investment in a new 6,500 square foot warehouse in the UK has also contributed to shorter lead times for our export sales to markets including the United States and Asia.”
Totally Natural Solutions plans to build on its overseas growth with attendance at several high-profile industry events around the world this year. This includes the Craft Brewers Conference in the United States in May, where it will present a seminar alongside its strategic partner NZHops. It will also have a presence at the European Brewing Convention in Madrid, Spain in May; at Drinktec in Munich, Germany in September; and the SeaBrew trade fair in Bangkok, Thailand this October.
Totally Natural Solutions is looking to grow turnover significantly in the next years, with immediate plans to expand its team, and is investing heavily on capital infrastructure and business systems to allow capacity to increase five-fold by the end of 2022.
