CLOSED
GET A PIECE OF HARDBALL CIDER
Grown, Pressed, Hardened.
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$148,012.80 Raised
REASONS TO INVEST
TEAM
Geoffrey T. Deen • CEO/Founder, 5th Generation
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Kari Painter • Head of Marketing and Events
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Todd G. Deen • Head of Growing Operations, 4th Generation
Todd is the person responsible for the idea behind one of the first three ciders that Hardball Cider ever developed - Splitter. He suggested that Geoff take some Fastball (dry hard cider) and mix it with some of their fresh apple cider and so the perfect split between dry and sweet was crafted!
In his spare time, Todd enjoys the performing arts and is an accomplished pianist and musical director for regional and local theater productions.
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the pitch
With authentic flavors in every ounce, we offer an all-star lineup of craft hard ciders that swing for the fences. Playing to win in a fast-growing craft beverage market, Hardball Cider sets itself apart from the competition by utilizing local ingredients and traditional press production methods from our own 5th generation family-owned farm.
Hometown Heritage Meets Major League Taste
You’ll know it’s a Hardball Cider when you take that first sip and it tastes as if you’re biting into a crisp apple. For connoisseurs who crave a taste as classic as America’s favorite sport, we are committed to creating craft beverages without compromise.
Our hard ciders run the spectrum from dry, to semi-sweet, to sweet, but are always made from 100% fresh-pressed apples. Hardball’s products can be found at retail outlets, restaurants, ballparks, and tap houses throughout the Northeast region, and have become a fan favorite on sites like Untappd, where our assortment scores homerun ratings.
The Problem & Our Solution
An Apple-to-Glass Approach that Preserves Tradition and Promises a Premium Experience
Once considered a staple beverage during Colonial times, cider and the art of cidermaking have been experiencing a renaissance in recent years. Today, hard cider is one of the fastest-growing segments of the liquor industry, but one that is quickly becoming clouded with products that don’t adhere to traditional craftsmanship. Hardball Cider is here to ensure that consumers don’t miss out on the time-honored taste and experience of a true American hard cider.
As an alternative to the many mass-produced, from-concentrate products available, Hardball Cider’s goal is to bring craft cider back to its roots. Our process is a labor of love, using traditional rack and cloth press methods to create a robust, raw cider base. Every glass contains the equivalent of seven whole apples and we devote months – sometimes even years – to developing our recipes, in order to carefully preserve a nuanced fruit flavor profile.
The Market & Our Traction
Batting Above Average in Revenue, Ratings, and Annual Returns
In only a short time, Hardball Cider has seen expansive growth, and as a company we are celebrating a series of promising wins. Since 2019, our YoY growth has exceeded 20% on an annual basis, and earlier this year, our taproom saw its largest retail sales run, surpassing $20K in a single day. On consumer rating sites our products consistently rank above competitor brands, with Hardball recently achieving an average rating of 3.7 for our 24 flavors on UnTapped.
The company’s business model encompasses multiple revenue streams – including corporate-owned retail, self-distribution, and wholesale partner distribution to bring products to market – and we have doubled capacity in the past ten months to accommodate growing demand. Even so, the call for our offerings is outpacing production and, at present, the company is able to meet only about 25% of our existing market opportunities. In other words, Hardball is ready to expand!
Why Invest
Help Us Move Up to the Show and Achieve National Brand Status
With additional funding, Hardball is ready to execute a strategic game plan that entails expanding our facilities, upgrading existing equipment, building out our regional headquarters, and continuing to pursue incremental markets, while rounding the bases towards national brand rollout.
This methodical approach will allow us to gain entry into new markets state by state, scale logistics to their utmost efficiency, as well as maintain the product quality our customers have come to know and love. We welcome investors to join our team and help us become a nationally recognized craft cider brand. Invest today in Hardball Cider on StartEngine!
ABOUT
HEADQUARTERS
805 Orchard Rd
Mt Bethel , PA 18343
WEBSITE
View Site
TERMS
Hardball Cider
Overview
PRICE PER SHARE
$2.50
DEADLINE
May. 1, 2023 at 6:59 AM UTC
VALUATION
$8M
FUNDING GOAL
$15K - $1.24M
Breakdown
MIN INVESTMENT
$250
MAX INVESTMENT
$1,235,000
MIN NUMBER OF SHARES OFFERED
6,000
MAX NUMBER OF SHARES OFFERED
494,000
OFFERING TYPE
Equity
SHARES OFFERED
Common Stock
Maximum Number of Shares Offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares
*Maximum number of shares offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See Bonus info below.
Investment Incentives & Bonuses*
Time-Based Perks
Friends and Family
Invest within the first 72 hours and receive 5% bonus shares.
Super Early Bird
Invest within the next 72 hours and receive 10% bonus shares.
Early Bird Bonus
Invest within the next 7 days and receive 5% bonus shares.
Amount-Based Perks
Tier 1 | $250
Receive one indoor/outdoor removable Hardball Cider sticker+ one metal tree leaf with engraved shareholder’s name that will be affixed to our forever Hardball Cider apple tree in our taproom.
Tier 2 | $1000
Receive Tier 1 perks + one stainless steel growler with Hardball logo.
Tier 3 | $2500
Receive Tier 2 perks + one Hardball Cider heavyweight hoody.
Tier 4 | $5000
Receive Tier 3 perks + one Hardball Cider embroidered jersey with your name on the back.
Tier 5 | $10000
Receive Tier 4 perks + 3% bonus shares + 10% off every purchase at the cidery for 1 year.
Tier 6 | $25,000
Receive Tier 4 perks + 5% bonus shares + 25% off every purchase at the cidery for 1 year.
Tier 7 | $50,000
Receive Tier 4 perks + 7% bonus shares + 50% off every purchase at the cidery for 1 year + spend a day with the head cidermaker participating in your own cider-making experience at Hardball Cider in Mt. Bethel, PA. (travel/lodge costs not included).
The 10% StartEngine Owners' Bonus
Hardball Cider will offer 10% additional bonus shares for all investments that are committed by investors that are eligible for the StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. OWNer's bonus.
This means eligible StartEngine shareholders will receive a 10% bonus for any shares they purchase in this offering. For example, if you buy 100 shares of Common Stock at $2.50 / share, you will receive 110 shares of Common Stock, meaning you'll own 110 shares for $250. Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
This 10% Bonus is only valid during the investors' eligibility period. Investors eligible for this bonus will also have priority if they are on a waitlist to invest and the company surpasses its maximum funding goal. They will have the first opportunity to invest should room in the offering become available if prior investments are canceled or fail.
Investors will receive the highest single bonus they are eligible for among the bonuses based on the amount invested and time of offering elapsed (if any). Eligible investors will also receive the Owner’s Bonus in addition to the aforementioned bonus.
ALL UPDATES
05.05.23
Big Changes are Here
Thanks to all of you for your interest and investment, Hardball Cider has made some exciting changes to our production processes. How much faster are we now?
This new 1240 gallon brite tank allows our production team to fill orders 4x faster than before. How do we crash and keep all of our tanks cold? Our NEW glycol chiller now allows us to crash 7x the tank space as before (2100 gallons instead of just 300 gallons at a time!)
With only the rest of this month left, now is the last chance to join our team. We are over half way to what's needed to take us to the next level!
Click here to help us do this in our final days: www.startengine.com/hardballcider
Thank you so much!
Hardball Cider Team
03.10.23
NOW Shipping to YOU
Hardball Cider is very excited to announce to it's followers and investors on Start Engine that we can now ship to 40 states in the US. Don't see your state highlighted in red? There are more to add in the coming weeks!
Do you or anyone you know enjoy hard cider? Click out the link below or share our website with them so they can enjoy our hard ciders right from the comfort of their home! Flavors change weekly so there is always something new to try!
https://vinoshipper.com/shop/hardball_cider?list=
02.28.23
We are on PACE!
Hi Everyone!
We at Hardball Cider are sending out a virtual 'THANK YOU' for your interest and investment in our company. In just 13 days, we’ve reached over 1/3 of our goal to recruit 100 new investors to the Start Engine platform in the first month. Are you ready to take us to the next level?
If you’ve invested or favorited our campaign page, something has truly inspired you to do so. Can you think of any friends or family who would love to officially be part of our journey? startengine.com/hardballcider
Stay tuned for an intimate interview with me and our Head of Marketing, Kari Painter, this Friday Feb 25th with answers to your amazing questions regarding our investment campaign.
Cheers!
Geoffrey Deen, Founder & CEO
REWARDS
10%
Stack Venture Club & Rewards!
Members get an extra 10% shares in addition to rewards below!
Venture Club
Venture Club Members earn 10% bonus shares on top of this and all eligible investments for an entire year. Not a member? Sign up at checkout ($275/year).
$250
Tier 1
Invest $250+ and receive: One (1) indoor/outdoor removable Hardball Cider sticker Receive one metal tree leaf with engraved shareholder’s name that will be affixed to our forever Hardball Cider apple tree in our taproom
$1,000
Tier 2
Receive Tier 1 perks + one stainless steel growler with Hardball logo.
$2,500
Tier 3
Receive Tier 2 perks + one Hardball Cider heavyweight hoody.
$5,000
Tier 4
Receive Tier 3 perks + one Hardball Cider embroidered jersey with your name on the back.
$10,000
Tier 5
Receive Tier 4 perks + 3% bonus shares + 10% off every purchase at the cidery for 1 year.
$25,000
Tier 6
Receive Tier 4 perks + 5% bonus shares + 25% off every purchase at the cidery for 1 year.
$50,000
Tier 7
Receive Tier 4 perks + 7% bonus shares + 50% off every purchase at the cidery for 1 year + spend a day with the head cidermaker participating in your own cider making experience at Hardball Cider in Mt. Bethel, PA. (travel/lodge costs not included)
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
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Adrian Jackson
2 years ago
Hello Geoffrey, When are you releasing 2021/2022 financials so i can see them before i invest? Also do you plan on extending your deadline to raise more cash on StartEngine?
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Matt Cottrill
2 years ago
Geoffrey, Congrats on the strategic growth plans! A few Q's: 1) Can you speak to the NOL in '22? Any specific driver? 2) It looks like $ COGS / BBL has spiked by about twenty-five percent? Does that have to do with buying fresh cider on outside or another driver? 3) Is the short-term debt AP or some kind of revolver? Excited to see your growth! Thanks, Matt
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David Schrift
2 years ago
Geoffrey, I am reposting my question so you can respond to it. 1. What is the exit plan for investors? Do you plan on staying private and paying out dividends, IPO, acquisition? 2. If my math is right, I currently have you at 2080 bbls/year with a goal to get to 6200ish/year? This puts your current revenue per bbl at around $480? What expenses do you need to incur to get to 3x current production level? 3. What is the long-term goal for your company? Being that angry orchard is a 200M revenue company, is your goal to surpass this? How are you thinking about long-term goals while being a family run business? 4. Do you plan on expanding beyond cider? Thanks, David
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Gregory Keil
2 years ago
Geoffrey, As a fellow PA resident I am glad to see a homegrown product. Is there a specific reason that you do not offer your product in the more popular counties of Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and other counties surrounding Philadelphia? Thanks, Greg
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David Schrift
2 years ago
Geoffrey, Would you mind responding to my last query. It might have gotten lost in the other queries I sent you. Thanks, David
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David Schrift
2 years ago
Geoffrey, Thanks for that additional information, a few followups: 1. What is the exit plan for investors? Do you plan on staying private and paying out dividends, IPO, acquisition? 2. If my math is right, I currently have you at 2080 bbls/year with a goal to get to 6200ish/year? This puts your current revenue per bbl at around $480? What expenses do you need to incur to get to 3x current production level? 3. What is the long-term goal for your company? Being that angry orchard is a 200M revenue company, is your goal to surpass this? How are you thinking about long-term goals while being a family run business? 4. Do you plan on expanding beyond cider? Thanks, David
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Geoffrey Deen
Hardball Cider
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2 years ago
Hi David, I replied to your comments, but put them in a new thread as they exceeded the text limit. Please see the comments section for answers to your questions. And thank you for considering an investment in my company! Best, Geoff
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Geoffrey Deen
Hardball Cider
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2 years ago
8. The marketing agreements at the ballparks have gotten too costly over the years. When we first were added to the beverage assortment at the Phillies ballpark, we were able to do it through Aramark and not the Phillies front office, so it didn't cost us anything. That all changed about 4 years ago and now it's a hefty marketing fee if you want to have your product in the ballpark. I'm not ruling the stadiums out in the future; especially if our wholesalers have agreements with them or we are included with some of their other brands and it becomes more affordable. For now, there are some minor league ballparks who carry Hardball Cider and we're happy about that, but the priority is to surround the ballparks with our products at the local bars, restaurants, etc. and that will make the brand part of the conversation with the baseball teams in the future. 9. The Maryland distributor was just searching online for a cider and they reached out to us directly, came up for a visit to see our facilities and taste the product. They were impressed with our liquid, took some back for the rest of their team to try and sent us a contract. We are in discussions with two larger distributors currently in major markets. Due to the stage of the conversations, I'll have to keep those anonymous for the time being. We'll provide updates on those discussions in this forum as things progress.
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Geoffrey Deen
Hardball Cider
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2 years ago
2 days ago 5. There are about 210 calories per 12 oz serving of cider. That's pretty much the industry average for a 6.5-7% abv beverage. There is a segment that is looking for lower sugar options and we do produce ciders that fit that customer need. Predominantly, our customer is looking for a full-flavored beverage which is the segment we play most heavily in today. 6. We wrapped up 2022 just under $600K in sales ($533K was YTD at the time of our submission). But, yes, the relatively flat YoY was due to production limitations. We went through the busiest seasons (Memorial Day through Oct) without having supplied our distributors with product. That problem has been resolved with our equipment purchases and the steady, year-round juice supply available now. 7. We can continue expanding outside of Pennsylvania if we can get to the 3x increase over current production. Current production already takes into account the Maryland expansion and additional partners within Pennsylvania. The expansion would focus heavily on distribution as it requires significantly less licensing and cost than to open and operate in various states. That said, there will come a point where it would make sense to build out regional production facilities for improved logistics to reach distributors across the country. Our focus right now is the eastern part of the country as we can service that geography from our current location without taking on additional expenses. We strategically partner with wholesalers whose values and brand building strategies align with our own. We have great relationships with our current partners and a reference/referral can go a long way when it's grounded in sales performance. Outside of current partners referrals, we research and directly contact wholesalers who we feel we'd be a good fit for when we look at their existing portfolio. It takes time, but we've seen success in this approach. Additionally, like we did with Wegmans, we will continue to pursue regional and national brand approval so we can be assorted in any location, not just our local stores.
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joseph Puccio
2 years ago
How are the sales looking with the ball parks? What projections do you have in place for the 2023 season?
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