Skinny Brands secures private equity backing
Securing a 37.5% stake in the company for an undisclosed fee, Mosaic has aligned with the creators of Skinny Lager – a 4% 89-calorie lager – aims to dominate ‘lifestyle’ category development within the alcohol industry.
Alongside this, Skinny’s management has also been expanded with Mihai Albu being appointed as chief executive and ex-global sales director at Kopparberg, Adrian Hirst becoming chief commercial officer.
Hirst, who was global sales director at Kopparberg for more than a decade, has joined Skinny to drive on and off-trade sales across the UK and EU markets, alongside working with the wider team to support strategic brand development as sales director.
Emerging company
Hirst, who also worked at Red Bull and Interbrew, told The Morning Advertiser: “What excited me about joining Skinny – alongside the co-founders who I get on with very well – is that the company is emerging from almost a zero base.
“[The brand] is about wellbeing and health around alcohol, and low-calorie alcohol is just at the beginning.”
Skinny Brands co-founder Tom Bell outlined why the lifestyle category is so important to the alcohol market.
Rapid development
He said: “This is an incredibly exciting new chapter of the company’s rapid development and one that will shape the future for the business and, hopefully, the industry for years to come.
“We have been spearheading the very significant shift in what consumers are looking for in their alcohol choice, and lifestyle is a category we have been pushing for a very long time and now we have the backing and management to make significant inroads within the industry.
“The passion for offering consumers a premium and quality lifestyle alternative is as strong as it was three years ago in a back bedroom in Manchester, and the new investors and management structure are all aligned in what we want to achieve as a company.”
