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BrewDog to ‘redefine industry’ with 20% yearly profit donation

Scottish brewer BrewDog, which also produces the Lone Wolf spirits range, has pledged to permanently share 20% of its annual profits among its staff and charities.

BrewDog’s workforce will benefit from the annual 20% profit donation

Through the new BrewDog Unicorn Fund, the independent company will give away 10% of its profits to its staff, and a further 10% to charities chosen by its 1,000-strong workforce and 57,000 Equity Punk crowd-funding investors.

If its targets are met, BrewDog is set to donate more than £45 million through the fund over the next five years. The firm will reinvest the balance of its profits into the business “for at least the next seven years”.

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, said that for the company’s 10th year of operation, it hopes to “inspire a new kind of business” by challenging the impact of CSR policies.

“Our mission for the next decade at BrewDog is not simply to redefine the beer industry, but to redefine industry itself,” he said.

Watt added: “Giving away 20% of our profits – forever – is not about altruism. It is about impact. It’s not about profits. It is about purpose. This is the biggest community-fuelled, crowd-funded charity contribution in history.

“Outdated CSR policies have zero consideration for their real-world impact, existing merely for the purpose of an oversized cheque and an awkward photo shoot. This is a call to arms for businesses to democratise the impact their charitable contributions can have on their community, their people, and the world.”

Earlier this year, BrewDog debuted the inaugural spirits range from its Lone Wolf Distillery, based inside its Ellon brewhouse.

The distillery, said to be the “most versatile distillery in the UK”, creates grain-based spirits that are “pure of bloodline” – that is, they are created from scratch on site and do not use neutral grain spirit (NGS).

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