Scottish startup Beastly Brews, which produced the oat milk liqueur Panther M*lk, has ceased trading after two supermarket listings fell through.
Three years after appearing on Dragons’ Den, the Glasgow-based producer of Panther M*lk, a line of oat milk liqueurs, has fallen into liquidation.
Beastly Brews has appointed Donald McKinnon accountancy firm WBG as its provisional liquidator last month, while all seven staff members have been made redundant.
“It is sad to see the demise of such an innovative drinks company with such great potential,” said McKinnon. “The company still holds stock, amounting to around 17,400 of bottles of varying flavours, and we are currently exploring opportunities to dispose of this stock to interested parties.”
How Panther M*lk achieved major growth
The brainchild of Paul Crawford, Beastly Brews revived a Spanish dive bar classic with a plant-based twist. It was inspired by the founder’s trip to a hidden bar in Barcelona in the mid-2010s, where he first sampled Leche de Pantera, a cocktail comprising gin, condensed milk and cinnamon that dated back to the 1920s.
Crawford opened the Panther Milk Bar in Glasgow in 2015, but what was initially meant to be a pop-up turned into a permanent weekend fixture for four-and-a-half years. It closed in 2020 after the main bar it was housed in changed hands, but the success of the Spanish-inspired tipple convinced him to bottle it up.
He launched Panth*r Milk under his Beastly Brews company in 2020, with one key recipe change: the sweetened condensed milk was out, oat milk was in. The change was made to appeal to a wider range of consumers.
To secure some capital, Crawford went on Dragons’ Den in 2022, asking for £50,000 in exchange for 7.5% of his company. He ended up with a deal with Deborah Meaden (who follows a vegan diet) – she initially asked for 30% of the business, but agreed on 25%. However, as is common with many deals on the show, the investment promise fell through.
Still, the Dragons’ Den appearance gave Panther M*lk national recognition, and the company gradually expanded its operations. It sold the oat milk liqueur online on its website and Amazon, and at Asda and the Co-op. It also appeared at a number of festivals across the UK.
The firm’s flavour offerings evolved over the years, with the latest lineup including Crema, Rosa, Café and Menta. It additionally launched a Dirty Banana hard milkshake. And last year, it refreshed its packaging from clear glass bottles to matte black ones, while also giving its logo a makeover.
In fact, the company experienced significant growth, increasing its on- and off-trade distribution points from 100 to 600 in 2024. It teased major expansion plans for 2025, with sights set on more UK retailers and an entry into Germany and Spain. And between October last year and this May, it generated a turnover of around £175,000.
Abandoned supermarket deals drove the firm’s liquidation
Now, it seems the expansion strategy is why Beastly Brews ran into trouble. “We had invested in the production of stock in advance with the intention of supplying to Tesco and Sainsbury’s, but both arrangements fell through, leaving us with too much stock, the cost of production to account for, and, ultimately, cashflow difficulties as we sought to offset the stock, resulting in this unfortunate liquidation,” Crawford said.
Its website was exhibiting problems in July, and an automated email at the time said: “It is with a heavy heart that Panther M*lk has ceased trading on Friday 18th July due to financial difficulties.”
Sales of plant-based milk and drinks in the UK dipped by 2% in 2024. That said, they were bought by a third of households. And oat milk continues to remain popular: its volumes remained steady between 2023 and 2024, and it accounted for half of the segment’s sales last year.
At the same time, Brits are drinking less, with one in five saying they don’t partake at all. Over a third (38%) are now consuming low- or no-alcohol drinks at least occasionally, and they’re more popular among young generations.
These trends highlight the opportunity for brands like Panther M*lk, and Crawford himself has alluded to this. “The landscape of the drinks industry has evolved significantly since we started. Consumers are more health-conscious and environmentally aware, and Panther M*lk sits comfortably within these trends as a lower ABV, plant-based option,” he said last year.
It’s an unfortunate and unexpected end for Crawford and Beastly Brews, but it’s a fate that has befallen many of his plant-based counterparts recently. In the UK alone, pea milk brand Mighty Drinks fell into administration this summer, before being rescued by Cypriot firm The Mighty Kitchen. Meanwhile, ready meal startup Allplants went bankrupt last year, with Plants and Grubby buying off its assets.
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