Ciarán Gorman, Co-founder/Finance Director, Bevcraft Group
In our Ones to Watch section, we highlight some of the top movers and shakers. This week we feature Bevcraft.
What is it?
The Bevcraft Group provides specialised process and packaging services to the craft beverage industry under the trade names Irish Craft Canning and Packsource.
In recent years there has been significant growth in the numbers of craft beverage producers worldwide, including microbreweries, artisan coffee roasters, cider makers and a wide range of other speciality producers. Bevcraft provides the infrastructure and economies of scale these small-batch, high-quality producers require to compete and grow.
At the core of the business is a mobile contract canning service which to date has processed over 1.5 million cans in Ireland. This is the only service of its kind in Ireland and one of only a handful of mobile canning providers in Europe.
Who’s behind it?
The business was established by Ciarán Gorman and Darren Fenton in their hometown of Mullingar in 2016 following several years of research. Much of the initial business plan was mapped out whilst Darren was working in the craft beer industry in Japan, and Ciarán, a chartered accountant, was back in Ireland working as a senior manager with RBK.
Ciarán Gorman recently came national runner-up in the Start-Up Category of the Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition and was also a finalist in the National Enterprise Awards in the Mansion House in May.
How is it funded?
The business has been funded by a mixture of investment from the founders, finance from AIB and Bank of Ireland and the continued backing of the Local Enterprise Office Westmeath.
Total funding to date is approaching €500,000 and the company is targeting between €1 million and €2 million of further fundraising rounds over the coming two years to support growth plans.
Future plans?
Bevcraft has recently moved into an 8,000 sq. ft. production/office facility and increased canning capacity to 5 million+ cans per annum. Currently 10% of sales are derived from exports to the UK and Norway and the directors have plans to grow this substantially. A new e-commerce offering, Packsource.ie, is due to be launched in the coming weeks and a range of service improvements are expected to be rolled out in Q3 and Q4 of 2018.
