Better Nature Tempeh

Idea

Introduction

We’re four foodies on a mission to help people live healthier lives. This is why we’ve set ourselves the goal of getting 500 million people to eat tempeh by 2030.

Tempeh is a delicious plant-based food made by fermenting whole soybeans so they become even more nutritious and versatile. It’s beans made better.

Not just another meat alternative, tempeh has been a staple in Indonesian cuisine for over 300 years. Our co-founder Dr. Driando was born in Indonesia and has been eating tempeh since he was a baby! He’s also done a PhD on tempeh’s positive impact on human health.

We believe we're on track to transform the meat-free aisle by filling the gap for natural, nutritious options that taste great. Our tempeh is already sold in the likes of Tesco, Planet Organic and Whole Foods Market. It’s also used in meals by allplants, Pure and Mindful Chef. And this is just the beginning.

With leading investors such as The Conduit Fund and Growthdeck, we’ve already raised £1M+ towards this funding round via 3 different terms. The most economically favourable and EIS-eligible terms have been offered to Seedrs investors. Take part in our crowdfunding and join us on our mission to help people live healthier lives. Because life’s better with tempeh.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Since launching in January 2020, we have:

- Grown at a phenomenal rate - our revenue in May-July 2023 more than tripled from £85k to £280k (increased by 228%) compared to the same period last year. Compared to the same period 24 months ago, our revenues have almost quintupled (increased by 387%)*.

- Developed a market-leading range of 100% natural, nutritious and delicious tempeh products, with plenty more to come

- Built a distinctive, joyful brand and strong marketing strategy to grow the awareness of tempeh among our audience of health-conscious flexitarians

- Launched into over 560 Tesco stores and Tesco.com

- Launched into hundreds of REWE stores in Germany

- Sold a pack of tempeh in Lidl every 19 seconds (that’s 31,752 packs in one week) during a week-long promotional listing. We'll be back on Lidl's shelves in October!

- Launched into all Planet Organic and Whole Foods Market stores

- Launched tasty tempeh dishes with Mindful Chef, allplants and Pure

- Been awarded a Great Taste Award 2023 for our BBQ Tempeh Pieces

- Been shortlisted in The Grocer New Product & Packaging Awards 2023 for our Curry Tempeh Pieces (the winner will be revealed in November 2023)

- Published four WIPO patents and one trade secret - to make tempeh as nutritious and accessible as possible

- Donated 1% of our sales to tackle malnutrition in Indonesia, the home of tempeh (since the start of 2022)

*Based on unaudited management accounts

Monetisation strategy

Our ambition over the next 2 years is to cement ourselves as the UK’s go-to tempeh brand and to take tempeh into the mainstream in both retail and foodservice channels, whilst concurrently establishing a financially profitable business.

We’ve already made great strides in expanding our distribution. We’re currently available in over 560 Tesco stores and have secured a listing with ASDA to launch in January 2024. We also supply fantastic foodservice brands such as allplants, Mindful Chef, Pure and Bidfood. But we’re far from done. We have ambitious plans to further expand our distribution and are already in discussions with the UK’s largest retailers and foodservice partners. We’ve also developed a novel all-natural plant-based protein ingredient which we plan to launch in 2024.

We currently make 30-35% gross margins (varies depending on product/channel). With greater economies of scale and new products, we plan to further expand our gross margins and drive to achieve profitability by late 2025.

Use of proceeds

We've already raised £1M+ as part of this full round, which includes £635K raised on two other Advance Subscription Terms (hence why they’re not included in the progress bar). Please see the Key Information tab for further information.

With the backing of all our wonderful investors, we intend to:

- Expand our retail distribution in the UK. We are currently in discussions with other major UK retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Ocado to take on our market-leading tempeh range.

- Expand our foodservice distribution. We are already in discussions with Brakes, Sodexo, Compass Group and John Lewis Partnerships.

- Launch a new range of naturally nutritious ready-to-heat products (i.e. burgers, falafels and nuggets) and expand into the rapidly growing meat-free snacking category, to meet the customer need for meat-free options that are naturally nutritious and delicious.

- Commercialise our patent-protected plant-based protein ingredient made using tempeh fermentation. We’ve been working hard to produce the next-generation of clean-label protein ingredients to be used across many categories. We are now in a position to get tempeh into products such as plant-based milk, cheese, ice-cream, baked snacks, and more.