Seriously Special Hand Made Food sold online & via retail stores
Business overview
Location | London, United Kingdom |
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Social media | |
Website | byruby.co.uk |
Sectors | Food & Beverage Mixed Digital/Non-Digital Mixed B2B/B2C |
Company number | 10767605 |
Incorporation date | 12 May 2017 |
Investment summary
Business highlights
- Winner of Best Startup in Great British Food Awards
- Listing of 17 product lines at Wholefoods
- 200% increase in sales online in March
- Turnover increase of 50% year 1-2*
Idea
Introduction
SERIOUSLY SPECIAL HAND MADE FOOD, THAT'S WHAT BYRUBY IS ALL ABOUT

With the frozen food market growing at a rate of 8.8% annually and UK ready meal sales worth £12 billion in 2020 the market is huge, we are in the perfect position to grow. In March our sales were up 200% online compared to the previous month.

30% of people identify as 'Flexitarian' and our menu reflects this way of eating less but better quality meat and fish. The British public is beginning to think more ethically about their food and its provenance. We only use British free-range or organic meat & sustainably sourced fish from British waters. Our vegetables are delivered fresh from Covent Garden Market every morning. Our menu is varied to appeal to broad tastes and dietary requirements

However much of a foodie you are, you sometimes just don't have the time to cook. At ByRuby we use ingredients you can trust so you can eat seriously special food at home byRuby
Substantial accomplishments to date
May 2017
Ruby & Milly met Finns, Chelsea and began to see demand for frozen food increase
November 2017
We took on our commercial kitchen in Acton, West London and got busy with preparing our seriously special meals.
May 2018
We launched ByRuby online
October 2018
We won Women's Heath Food Award - Hooray!
Late 2018 / Early 2019
Began to see interest from farm shops and retailers so made the most of this market
September / October 2019
Accepted onto NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator program and Virgin Crowdboost Accelerator
2019 / 2020
Press coverage in Daily Mail / Daily Telegraph / Metro / Great British Food / Sheerluxe and more
February 2020
Link with Young Foodies Funding and pitch event
March 2020
Sales up 200% online
May 2020
Turnover up 50% from year 1 to year 2*
October 2020
Rebrand & launch of our new website. New packaging and branded freezers for retailers so we stand out better on the shelf. Winner of Best Startup in Great British Food Awards - HOORAY!
November 2020
Launch with Wholefoods
November 2020
5,000 online customers and stocked in 26 retail stores - new accounts incoming for small scale chains
THE FUTURE
To grow our online presence through pushing our new subscription model & marketing our already proven concept
To have presence in multiple farm shops / garden centres / delis & to become a household name for quality, convenience & taste
We have a book deal with Octopus Publishing which will be published June 2021
*based on unaudited management accounts
Monetisation strategy
DIRECT TO CONSUMER currently 70% of business
Online sales via our website - We manufacture and send our products direct to customers' homes
Average order value online is £68.00
Customer lifetime value is £225.00
WHOLESALE TO RETAIL currently 30% of business
We sell to a growing number of retail outlets and businesses from farm shops to small scale chains. We also sell to companies who use our meals to support the wellness of their staff
Average order value across wholesale channels is currently £435 - we believe this will increase considerably with larger accounts and pallet quantities
The market for pre-prepared meals is HUGE and 72% of shoppers are looking for healthier food options with less salt, fat and sugar. We not only fill this gap but also appeal to those who are busy with an ethical conscience
Use of proceeds

50% MARKETING
Online
We need to invest in marketing to build our sales and brand. We are completely set up in our kitchen, have brilliant new packaging and website, we are ready to grow. We have trialled Facebook ads with great success so are ready to push this. We need to invest in better creative to support our adverts
Wholesale
As our brand grows we will have more demand from retailers and will need to service this demand with in store points of sale, branded freezers etc.
26% PEOPLE
With increased demand from online orders we will need to grow our kitchen team. We will need sales resource to make the most of the prospective wholesale clients as well as back up from financial and accounts perspective
17% KITCHEN
Our kitchen is well set up but we will need to make efficiencies with kitchen and packing equipment as we grow
7% NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
We are always innovating and will need to keep our range interesting and always evolving
Investor rewards

Key Information
Outstanding debt
The company has the following outstanding loans:
1. £50,000 loan from family of the founder at an interest rate of 6% per annum. The loan will only be repaid or converted into shares once the company has reached breakeven.
2. £50,000 loan Virgin StartUps at an interest rate of 6% per annum. The loan is to be repaid over the next 5 years.
3. £35,000 Bounce Back loan, interest-free for 12 months, and 2.5% thereafter. This is to be repaid over 60 monthly instalments starting in May 2021.
The funds raised from this investment round will not be used to repay these loans.
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