Wellington boutique coffee brand Peoples Coffee aims to raise a minimum of $500,000 and a maximum of $1.5m in a PledgeMe crowdfunding campaign. The 18-year-old company plans to grow supermarket sales, buy a new coffee roasting machine and hire a marketing team.
“I feel hugely proud that we are one of the first coffee companies in Aotearoa to offer an investment like this to you, our people. At a time when a majority of large, New Zealand-based coffee companies are now in the hands of private equity investors and off-shore corporations, we are stoked to be offering our community the chance to own a piece of Peoples,” says founder Matt Lamason.
“Peoples came into the world to make a difference. We have done that by championing small-scale coffee farmers and their communities worldwide for almost two decades. From countries as vast and unique as Ethiopia, Columbia, Honduras and Rwanda, we have been committed from the very beginning to purchasing all our coffee through coffee co-operatives, paying a Fair Trade and organic premium for every sack of coffee we buy. “
The company is also launching an employee share ownership plan (ESOP). “It is important that our staff also get the opportunity to become owners of the company they work in, have a say in what is happening, and in time receive a return from the gifts they have given to the business. While separate from the crowd raise, it is nevertheless part of the spirit of why we are going out to our people to invest for the next season of the company’s journey. Peoples Coffee – By the People, For the People.”
As of Thursday, the pledges had reached $176,000, with 17 days to go.
Check out the investment pitch and back story here
