Piping Hot is the original surfing lifestyle brand born in 1975 in Australia’s surfing hotspot, Torquay, during the heady years of the global surfing revolution. Year after year the company has grown relative to the public’s appetite for lifestyle goods encapsulating the surfing philosophy and in 1998, when Piping Hot formed a licensing agreement with retail giant Target Australia, it set them firmly apart from the other brands trying to respond to the same demand. 
By providing Target Australia with the marketing power of their distinguished brand with the flexibility of managing production in-house, the licensing agreement has allowed Piping Hot to stay loyal to its core values – accessibility, authenticity and affordability – where other surfing brands have deviated by pricing themselves out of the market.
“We’re incredibly proud of the Piping Hot success within Target which has been a boom for the brand. Growing in a market where surf wear is suffering is no mean feat and to remain privately Australian owned and operated is the icing on the cake,” said Piping Hot Owner and Managing Director, Mark Johannsen.
Piping Hot now sells goods over 22 categories. Accessories, footwear and hard goods have increased dramatically from a 5.84% net result share of the business to a 22.5% share in just 4 years, and this is expected to grow as demand and popularity continues to increase. The next financial year is expected to bring Piping Hot growth of around 20%, and a further 15% growth is expected by the end of the 2015/16 financial year. These figure are impressive in their own right but have also, together with Piping Hot’s strategic licensing agreement, provided the brand with future-proof armour during the global financial crisis where other, similar brands, have failed to find protective market solutions.
“We have 37 years of heritage in the Australian market and 15 years of heritage with DTR licensing with an iconic Australian retailer. It is only natural that we would seek to expand on the strength and integrity of the brand name as well as the success of the Target partnership locally.” says Johannsen. 
Today, Piping Hot is a household name to over 96% of Australians and is a well-established, renowned brand. This, together with already encouraging domestic growth figures, leaves only one logical next step – global expansion.  The brand has repeatedly proved itself able to both adapt seamlessly, and also thrive, in an often unstable market and so has the characteristics of a brand that will make waves in the global market. In fact, Piping Hot has the potential to evolve yet again, from an Australian surf-wear heavyweight into a global surf-wear icon.
Press Information and corporate enquiries:
Daniel MacPhail – Business Development Manager
+61 (0) 400 250 929 | dm@pipinghot.com.au