Show Notes
Grubby - the award-winning plant-based meal kits and ready meals delivered to your door - went from a £23M valuation and rapid growth TO around 140 VC rejections, losses of more than £1m in a year and a point where the founder says the business was probably only weeks away from “game over.”
BUT... if you need some inspiration from someone who has been through this and successfully turned things around then you're going to love this convo with founder Martin Holden-White - an unusually open conversation about what it REALLY takes to turn around a scaling D2C consumer brand. Today, the picture looks very different! Grubby is heading towards roughly £6m revenue, growing around 25%, has recorded approximately six profitable months this year and is close to achieving its first break-even year. Martin shares what had to change to get there: the down round, cost cutting, greater financial transparency, bringing in stronger financial leadership, acquiring manufacturing and recipe IP from Allplants, launching ready meals and becoming far more disciplined about how growth is funded. What You’ll Learn How Grubby went from a £23m valuation to being weeks away from failure Why Martin now looks back at that £23m valuation as “completely bonkers” What changed to take Grubby from £1m+ annual losses towards break-even while still growing How acquiring Allplants’ manufacturing and recipe IP accelerated Grubby’s move into ready meals Why Martin wishes he had hired a Financial Director much earlier Key Topics Discussed Grubby’s journey towards approximately £6m revenue The danger of valuations becoming detached from business fundamentals Raising around £6m and navigating an extreme down round What happened after roughly 140 VC rejections Cutting technology and marketing spend to change the economics How existing investors helped save the business Founder dilution and protecting crowdfunding investors The physical impact of founder stress Why Grubby shares its P&L internally every month Building a more financially disciplined growth model Acquiring manufacturing and recipe IP from Allplants Ready meals growing to around 20% of the business £50-ish customer acquisition costs and reducing reliance on paid social Using AI for menu optimisation, forecasting and waste reduction Partnerships as a route to product discovery and growth Why Martin wishes he’d hired an FD sooner Pasted text Community and review request If you learn anything from this chat, PLEASE share the love by sharing this episode with another founder building a challenger brand, a colleague or a mate or anyone trying to work out how to build a sharper, more focused growth model. AND! Don't forget to FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to Brand Growth Heroes on your favourite podcast app, and even LEAVE A REVIEW - both of these actions make a MASSIVE difference to our mission to help more founders just like you. IF you leave a review with your name and I can find you on LinkedIn, I promise to write to say thanks! *** Thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor — Joelson, the commercial law firm *** If you're a founder, you already know how much energy goes into building the perfect product, creating standout branding and connecting with consumers. But scaling a CPG business also brings legal complexities that can make or break your growth journey - from contracts and regulatory compliance to protecting your intellectual property. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Joelson, the leading commercial law firm with 10000s of hours experience supporting the founders of scaling consumer brands, just like you.
Joelson works with brands like Little Moons, Trip, Eat Natural, Bear Graze and Pulsin, and advised the innocent founders on their landmark sale to Coca-Cola - and they still work with them at JamJar Investments today! Joelson is offering a FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION to all BGH listeners (https://joelsonlaw.com/contact/bookings/ We HIGHLY recommend you take them up on it, you'll learn a LOT. (D
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Many of you founders working with niche ingredients out there might have struggled with this question: How do you build a new category when consumers don’t yet understand the ingredient, retailers don’t know where to place it, and nobody is walking into stores asking for it?
In this episode, Fiona Fitz chats with Richard Peake, Managing Director of Merchant Gourmet and one of the rare non-founder guests to grace our show. When Richard entered the role, Merchant Gourmet was a £15 million business. Fast forward four years, and the company has doubled its revenue to £30 million. Bold innovations, a revamped product range, and strategic market expansion have powered this incredible growth. Our conversation delves into the power of innovation and the importance of staying ahead of consumer trends. Richard shares invaluable lessons in new product development (NPD). One particularly fascinating theme we covered was servant leadership—how Richard and his team drive Merchant Gourmet’s growth by empowering their people and focusing on purpose. Additionally, we explore how export markets present an exciting new frontier for brands looking to scale. It was also refreshing to hear Richard admit that even seasoned professionals can find brand positioning a challenge. So, if you’ve ever struggled with getting it just right, you’re in good company! Enjoy the episode, and as always, let us know your thoughts!
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