Kiwis going crackers for Mash Tun

LEFT: Mike Cheyne and James Chatterton's Kickstarter campaign was a success and the pair are now preparing to set up their new cracker bakery. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY A-200915WCBRCMASH01

Bake it and they will come.

Wanganui's Mash Tun crackers will now be able to set up their own cracker factory in Wanganui East after successfully crowd-funding the capital.

James Chatterton and Mike Cheyne have been developing Mash Tun over the past two years, baking and selling crackers made from the waste brewing grain from Tuatara Brewery.

But they have outgrown the bakery they hire in town for one day a week and want to set up one of their own. They are selling product throughout the country and cannot keep up with demand. Part of the old UCOL building on Hakeke St has been secured but the pair needed money to buy equipment.

It was a close-run thing but the $30,000 target was reached on the final day of the campaign, with contributions from 86 backers. People could contribute between $5 and $5000 in return for a variety of rewards.

"Yeah, we're pretty stoked," Mr Cheyne said.

"It was last-hour stuff. We were baking on Saturday and we were trying to get out of the bakery before the end of the Kickstarter."

The next few months would be about buying equipment and getting the new facility signed off. "It will probably be early next year before the lights get turned on officially," he said.

The business' first attempt at crowding-funding had been an interesting experience, he said. "The momentum shifts. There's ups and downs.

"I think you've got to connect to your audience. The fact that we have been a couple of years on the ground meant we had momentum to start with."

"It also been good marketing and that's probably where the most value is."

Mr Cheyne said that while crowd-funding was never a guarantee, any business with a well-supported product and clear plan should give it a go.

"I think it will be interesting to see if other Wanganui people look at it as marketing or growth strategy."