We build distinctive brands and provide the commercial rigour and operational BACKBONE required to scale them

Spirit. Story. Structure.

grist stuDIO

Grist Studio, named for the valuable substance that fuels the mill, is the strategic venture partner dedicated to Food & Beverage, Hospitality, and Wellbeing. We execute the critical structural work required to bridge creative concepts with operational reality, ensuring distinctive brands achieve scale

Frederik KAMPMAN

I love building brands and scaling businesses.

And I have a massive soft spot for anything to do with food & beverage, hospitality & leisure and health & wellness.

My approach is built on three words: Spirit. Story. Structure.

WHAT WE DO

01. VENTURES

We are operators first. We incubate, launch, and manage our own proprietary brands within the F&B and Leisure sectors. We take concepts from the "napkin stage" through to market reality, designing the brand and engineering the operating model from the ground up. This is our skin in the game.
02. SCALING

Fixing and growing established brands & businesses. We are not advisors who write reports. We embed ourselves within scale-ups to execute the work required for growth. Whether restructuring the P&L, optimising the supply chain, or managing a turnaround, we provide the commercial backbone. We implement the changes, measure the impact, and refine the operation until it delivers.
03. BOARD ADVISOR

Building a business is hard enough without navigating it alone — and the problems that matter most rarely fit neatly into a single area of expertise. As a Board Advisor I work with a small number of carefully selected founders to provide the ongoing commercial governance and strategic steer required to grow and get to where they’re going. Not just showing up once a quarter. Fully committed to the outcome.

PROBLEMS WE TYPICALLY SOLVE

Building a brand from idea to concept to reality to category leader

Restructuring a P&L ahead of a funding round or investor conversation

Leading an innovation pipeline that creates category-defining products

Fixing a supply chain that can't keep pace with demand

Taking a brand from domestic success into UK or European retail

Turning around a business that's growing but losing money

Designing the commercial structure for a concept that's never had one

Preparing a founder-led business for acquisition or exit

THINGS WE HAVE WORKED ON

LOWLANDER BOTANICAL BEER

The only Low & No beer brewed with botanicals

Pioneered the Low & No botanical beer category in Europe — growing from a kitchen table idea to the second-largest independent craft beer brand in the Netherlands, now in strategic partnership with AB InBev.
Experiential hospitality

Pop up dinning concept bringing people together over food & drink in stand out locations
Proving that a brand can live beyond its product — building the blueprint for experience-economy concepts within F&B.
SNACKS WITH BENEFITS

More than a snack. Plant-based snacks made with locally sourced vegetables
As an early-stage investor and advisor, helped take a challenger plant-based snack brand through the premiumisation playbook — proving it works beyond beverages.
Spirited Union

Distillery & visitor experience where the visitor actually gets to experience distilling Backed pre-launch as co-owner
Provided commercial governance supporting 5x growth in volume and revenue and the acquisition of the Amsterdam brand home.
Opihr

First “spiced” gin. Made to drink with ginger beer (or tonic if you prefer)

Led the launch from zero — Opihr became the fastest-growing gin in the world, three times over.
Lowlander restaurant

1000m2 of bar, restaurant and event space where anything is possible.

Translated FMCG brand equity into a profitable physical guest experience — full P&L ownership from CapEx through to operational stabilisation.
And more...

Some projects are in stealth mode… or maybe you have something you want to work on together
WILDNEST CABINS

Modern hospitality concept with the goal to get guest back to nature and embracing the simple things in life.

A concept in development — applying the same zero-to-one methodology to modern nature-immersion hospitality in the New Forest.