A new business start-up from a trio of students, two of whom are from LCC, has emerged as part of Mercarto Metropolitano, the Milan-style street food market at Elephant & Castle.

Final year Graphic and Media Design student Felix Bollen spent part of his Diploma in Professional Studies year 16/17 developing this new business, concentrating on the branding, marketing and design side of the project.

“Last year I dedicated half of my DPS time to starting my own German Kraft Brewery with two partners at Elephant and Castle. Apart from management, my role has been to undertake the design and marketing side of the business. This took a vast amount of research, preparation and groundwork. I had to come up with a design language for the company. Branding our beer labels, business cards, invoices, business plan, website, social media, letterhead templates, flyers, stickers, crowdfunding campaign bundles, merchandise, glasses and taglines was a thrilling but exhausting experience. It has all come together and we are now open for business. I am still ‘learning by doing’ but being in this position has taught me a great deal about how much there is to consider and how important and valuable design is to any business.”

Kraft Brewery is distinctive in a number of ways. German Kraft has a number of unique features that set it aside from other Craft Brewers and mass produced beers:

  • “Exclusive water distillation and mineralization technology allows us to consistently create the perfect brewing water for very different types of beer. Since water is regarded as by far the most important ingredient for a good beer, this sets us aside from the average craft beer brewer who has to struggle with inconsistent and simply bad tap water.
  • Traditional German Kraft beer recipes can be brought to life with our personalised water, specialty hops and malts made for us by our German partner, creating well balanced beers deeply rooted in tradition with a modern twist.
  • Freshness is one of the biggest factors determining the quality of the beer experience. Our guaranteed water quality and a highly controlled brewing process with state of the art equipment allows for a consistently high quality in any location to be delivered fresh to the customer. Unfiltered, unpasteurised and without preservatives.”

“Environmentally we are on a different planet with our water technology, allowing for reuse of water, treatment of waste water and energy recuperation. In addition, most our beer will be enjoyed fresh out of our tanks or reusable steel kegs. Doing the right thing now and anticipating future regulations.”

Mercarto Metropolitano is a huge 45,000 square feet venue close to LCC, consisting of two halls full of food stalls and an Italian food market. It features a large range of produce alongside bars, coffee and street food.

https://www.germankraftbeer.com  (Felix is currently offering discount to LCC students).

Felix Bollen: https://felixbollen.myportfolio.com