Freedom Brewery has announced record turnover of £5.3m for the year to December 2022, with volume exceeding 25,000hl for the first time in its history.
Sales were up 16% versus the previous year and 44% ahead of 2019, driven by its award-winning craft lager which now represents more than 70% of sales. And this week the business was awarded a gold medal at the European Beer Challenge for Freedom Lager.
Freedom ran a successful crowdfunding campaign last year, raising £0.75m for a new canning line. Shareholders have recently committed a further £1m investment, which will contribute to the ongoing expansion of the brewery as it seeks to achieve sales of £10m in the next three years.
The UK lager market is worth more than £13bn, with craft lager the fastest growing category within this. This helps to offset the structural decline in standard, mass market brands, says Freedom. Lager accounts for eight out of every 10 pints drunk in the UK, and the opportunity for craft lager to continue displacing declining standard brands is huge, it says.
“Over the last 12 months, we have seen strong double-digit growth in the on-trade channel as more pubs, bars, and restaurants switch to Freedom 4% craft lager as their craft offering,” said Freedom Brewery managing director Matt Willson.
“This, coupled with securing new distribution across the off-trade following the recent installation of our canning line, has driven record volume and sales for the business.
“Consumer trends for both premium and authenticity have coincided with UK-brewed craft lager reaching wider awareness amongst drinkers, gained through increased distribution across all channels, and we are perfectly positioned to maximise the opportunity within craft lager over the coming years.”
