Dalston's Soda

Idea

Introduction

Dalston’s is a drinks company, born out of a nightclub in Dalston, East London. We make uniquely tasty healthier soft drinks using real fruit and sparkling water, no refined sugar, and no junk.

There's a growing amount of consumers who want more natural, healthy, low-calorie drinks, that don't compromise on taste. At Dalston's, we've always used less sugar, and last year removed all refined sugar from our range.

Since scaling up from our micro-brewery handmade origins and launching into cans in 2017 we started winning fantastic customers and hitting good growth.

Our drinks-making style is to find great ingredients and present them simply. Some of our best-selling recipes have come about as a result of supplier farm visits, and we're proud to operate a farm-friendly supply chain and work with best-in-class more sustainable British farms.

We want to be the nation's most-loved healthier soda brand, our mission is to put real natural ingredients back at the heart of drinks.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Dalston's drinks are now in over 2,700 distribution points including in retail Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Asda, health food shops Holland & Barrett and Wholefoods, and in leading Food Service and On Trade establishments such as Benugo, Byron, Greene King, and Wetherspoons.

In 2020 we sold 4 million cans. Between May 2018 and December 2020 we sold 10 million cans.

Our 2020 turnover was £1.79m*

Our June 2021 sales were a record-breaking month for us at £283k.*

We've won a DBA design effectiveness Award and a Grocer New Product Award.

We bought an entire field worth of rhubarb over the last 12 months.

*Based on unaudited management accounts

Monetisation strategy

Dalston's uses a multichannel approach operating across retail, foodservice, the on-trade, online, and in speciality & health.

We have a clear plan to grow revenue which includes:

Driving brand awareness and sales through our key retailers: Sainsbury's, Waitrose, and Asda.

Work with Foodservice and the On Trade to get Dalston's on restaurant, pub, and cafe menus across the country where discovery by consumers should encourage purchase in retail.

Working with best-in-class partners in selected export markets.

Drive online sales through Ocado and Amazon.

Use of proceeds

Funds from this raise will be used towards:

Building out our sales team to win distribution for the brand across our multi-channel focus areas. 40%

Investing behind well-targeted consumer & trade marketing to increase awareness, trial, and repeat purchases. 40%

To fund working capital required to support our existing ranges as we continue to scale. 20%.

Investor Perks