Looking for the Remarkable Cream of the crop

Local liqueur maker Remarkable Cream is the latest liquor company turning to the crowd to chase its dreams for growth, seeking $400,000 in an upcoming campaign on the PledgeMe platform.

The five-year-old firm is the brainchild of Wills Cameron. His grandfather Bill founded Robbie Burns Liquor and tinkered with making a New Zealand cream liqueur in the 1970s, which was later turned into reality by Wills’ father Neil in the 1990s with Otago Goldfields, until regulatory changes in the early 2000s cut that foray short.

Fast-forward to 2020 and the third generation of Cameron has found the right recipe that’s since been gaining momentum.

Remarkable Cream topped a million in revenue in the year ended March 31, growing at an annual pace of 41% in the past two years – both of which have been profitable.

The company sells both direct-to-consumer through its website and has more than 300 retailers stocking its product, and found its use of aluminium bottles dramatically reduced freight damage and wastage – plus stood out to customers.

Now it’s outgrown production capacity and is turning to the crowd to beef up manufacturing and support a sales drive that will seek to capture 15% of the domestic cream liqueur market – thought to be roughly $50 million-to-$60 million – and drive a push across the Tasman and beyond.

Milking it

The timing of the crowdfunding campaign with Fonterra Cooperative Group’s exit from its Mainland consumer business is coincidental, but isn’t lost on Cameron, who’s the chief executive and head of product.

“Right now and for the last 30 years, New Zealand has been the only major dairy exporting country that doesn’t have its own premium cream liqueur – it’s almost unbelievable,” he said.

He acknowledges the quality of Fonterra’s ingredients, having gauged the ability of overseas suppliers to meet his needs when there was a supply crunch a couple of years ago – they simply couldn’t match the local specs.

The pitch to investors is relatively straightforward.

Remarkable Cream is growing fast and needs money to help pay for the fit-out and equipment of its new creamery, plus support a new sales hire and marketing push, with one unprofitable year forecast for the March 2026 period before the bottom line returns to black ink.

The company turned a profit of $15,000 in the March 2025 year on revenue of almost $1.3 million, up from sales of $965,000 and a profit of $2,500 a year earlier. Gross margin expanded to 66% from 44%.

Back in black

Revenue is forecast to rise to $1.9 million in the March 2026 year, with a loss of $275,000 as it invests in the new plant and marketing initiatives, before returning to profit the following year when the company expects to launch food show-style events in Australia and complete small distributor orders across the Asia Pacific.

And it expects to generate positive cash flow late in the March 2026 year, once the new facility is completed.

The crowdfunding offer will sell 400,000-to-900,000 shares at $1 apiece, at a pre-money valuation of $5.9 million, or 4.6 times historical revenue. That compares to 4.5 times sales multiple for Morningcider’s crowdfunding campaign earlier this year and a 6.3 times multiple for Reefton Distilling, which is just about to close its offering on Snowball Effect with $1.3 million raised.

Remarkable Cream has $397,000 of shareholders loans, of which $180,000 will be refinanced with bank debt once the new equity has been raised. The remaining $217,000 has been used to maintain inventory levels and is repaid annually through cashflow.

The company plans to repay that debt as profitability improves.

The biggest portion of the funds has been earmarked for the factory fitout, with $158,000 at the $400,000 minimum, or a more fulsome capital spend of $270,000 at the $900,000 cap.

At the minimum raising, $70,000 will go towards a sales hire and $53,000 for a targeted domestic marketing campaign, with $28,300 for research and development on new products, and $58,700 for working capital. Some $32,000 will cover the cost of the offer.

On the side

Like many campaigns, the Remarkable Cream offering comes with a series of perks, depending on the size of investment, including discounts on purchases through the firm’s website, branded merchandise, a tour, private tasting, and even choosing a new flavour at the upper levels.

But for the nuts and bolts, the new investor shares – which will take a stake of between 6.4% and 13.3% – are non-voting, barring a resolution affecting their rights, with normal economic rights for any distributions. Anyone who invests $20,000 or more will receive ordinary voting shares.

Incoming shareholders can expect to get two updates a year, one being the financial statements, and an annual meeting.

Remarkable Cream doesn’t expect to pay dividends in the coming years, with the projected increase in cash being eyed up to pursue growth, with the goal being to create a great, long-lasting company.

“The founders are building this business with passion, long term vision, and are not in a rush to sell unless it’s a great outcome for all,” the company said in its information memorandum. “That said, we are committed to exploring and executing an exit when it makes sense, and to communicating transparently with shareholders about any opportunities.”

The most likely exit scenario envisaged in five years or more is a trade sale to a larger beverage company, with major operators typically looking for successful niche players, such as when the local breweries embarked on a spending spree on craft brewers through the 2010s.

In the absence of a sale or public offering, Remarkable Cream will explore liquidity events if and when they arise, such as a share buyback or enabling the sale of shares to a strategic investor if they were to come on board.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from David Maunsell on Unsplash.