Some 10% of the company’s profits will be shared equally among its staff, while the other 10% will go to charities chosen by the brewery’s 1,000-strong workforce and 57,000 Equity Punk investors.
If BrewDog meets its projected targets, it will give away in excess of £45m in the next five years.
Fast growth
The Scottish brewery has been the fastest growing food and drinks company in the UK for the past five years and recorded profits of £7.1m in 2016.
Speaking about the new initiative, called the Unicorn Fund, BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “At BrewDog, we care about two things above all else; our beer and our people. We want to make the best beers on the planet, we want to be the best company to work for, and we want to build a radically new type of business that we can all be proud of.
“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, crowdfunded charity contribution in history."
'A new kind of business'
Watt continued: “In our 10th year at BrewDog, we hope to inspire a new kind of business with the Unicorn Fund; one that doesn’t measure profit in purely monetary terms. Our mission for the next decade at BrewDog is not simply to redefine the beer industry, but to redefine industry itself.”
Last month, BrewDog announced it intended to build a third brewery in Australia.
The brewery and bar chain owner has earmarked Newcastle, New South Wales, and Brisbane, Queensland, as two potential locations for the brewery site.