Aussie craft gin curator Gintonica has announced it’s expanding into whisky and embarking on an equity crowd-sourced funding campaign to drive growth and promote Australian craft spirits both locally and internationally.

Australian craft spirits are booming, with gin consumption seeing a 64% growth over the past three years. Consumption of Australian craft gin is beginning to outstrip imports. From bottle shops, online retailers, cellar doors to bars, drinkers are leaning towards Aussie craft gin over big name imported brands.

Total national gin sales have risen 16% per annum between 2015-2019, while Australia’s largest liquor retailer Endeavour Group craft gin sales have grown more than 50% in the last 12 months across retail and online sales. The segment is now surpassing vodka, which was previously the best-selling white spirit in Australia.

With Aussie whisky sales also on the rise, Gintonica will soon be launching its whisky brand, WhiskyRocks, which is expected to further boost sales.

“It’s a natural progression for me to launch WhiskyRocks following the success of Gintonica,” said David Box (above), Gintonica’s Founder and Director. “Many of the gin distillers I have worked closely with over the past five years also produce world-class whisky so it made sense to share these with our craft spirit loving customers. We are so excited to be launching a curated tasting pack of 12 Australian whiskies for Father’s Day followed by a Australian Whisky Advent Calendar in time for Christmas.”

Huge growth for Gintonica since 2017

The Melbourne-based e-commerce Gintonica business was established in 2017 and made its name by launching a Gin Advent Calendar five years ago. Each edition now outsells its forecast year-on-year and it has become the company’s number one selling product.

Gintonica is also known for its 50ml ‘mini me’ bottles that allow consumers to sample over 250 Australian craft gins without having to invest up to $100 for a full-sized bottle. The product line has grown to include 14 gin tasting packs, Gin-a-Month subscriptions, cocktail gift packs and many other gin-related products, as well as being stocked in Dan Murphy’s and Myer.

Box said the enormous range of gins available on the market can be overwhelming for consumers.

“Walk into a major bottle shop and you could be confronted with over a hundred gins, more than half being Australian,” he explained. “We make it easy for gin lovers to try before they buy, or even to gift an incredible Aussie craft gin pack.”

There is a huge trend of drinkers wanting to support local, Australian-made drinks across all drinks categories, but growth is most noticeable in gin. There are over 125 commercial Australian distilleries producing 800 craft gins.

Australian craft spirits in general were boosted further by COVID, which accelerated Gintonica’s growth. Aussie spirit curators and drinkers were holding zoom tastings and becoming at-home cocktail aficionados.

Why Gintonica turned to crowd source funding

Crowd Source Funding (CSF) in Australia is enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to scale up and take investors on the ride.

Gintonica’s equity crowd-sourced funding campaign is being run via Birchal. Birchal states that since the commencement of Australia’s CSF industry in 2018, over 80 Australian SMEs have collectively raised over $53 million by issuing securities online under the ecosystem. Birchal also reports that there are now more than 44,000 investors who have participated in CSF offers, and this number is growing even in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“The past five years has shown us that Australians want quality made local spirits,” said Box. “Crowd funding will enable the business to expand into other craft spirits, employ more staff and continue to champion the Australian craft spirits industry while engaging with our customers on another level. We think raising equity in this way is a Ginspirational way for gin lovers to jump on board our spirited adventure.”

Expressions of interest in the Gintonica crowd-funding campaign close on August 23 via Birchal.