Pale Green Dot

Idea

Introduction

Pale Green Dot is on a mission to fix our food system.

To our knowledge, we are the only company to provide a ‘closed-loop food system’ in the UK, targeting the £60bn+ hospitality market.

- We collect food waste from commercial kitchens and turn it into bio-fertiliser and energy
- This goes back into the ground to grow next seasons produce
- We deliver fresh produce to commercial kitchens and homes

With a short transparent supply chain, we can calculate the carbon footprint of produce we sell and provide this information to customers.

WHY?

- 75% of consumers want carbon labeling on menus

- Almost 50% of 18 - 34yr olds have stopped buying food and drink from companies they think are not environmentally responsible.

With carbon footprint data, people are empowered to make informed decisions about what to buy, cook and eat, so that collectively we have the tools to tackle the biggest challenge facing our planet today, the climate crisis.

Substantial accomplishments to date

GROWTH

• Pale Green Dot grew sales 10x* in the last financial year (March 2020-2021) despite incredibly challenging times for startups in hospitality.

• Commercial sales have grown 740% since Jan 2021, and growing at an average of 80% MOM between Dec 2020 and May 2021*.

• We have achieved 600%* Growth in B2B Account spend since the start of 2021.

• We have secured one of the UK’s largest Contract Caterers, with the potential to be worth £5m a year. We are beginning pilots in Q3 to supply their prestigious B&I sites.

• We have onboarded two multi-site independent chains: Granger & Co and Caravan to deliver sustainable produce.

• We introduced a high retention subscription business to the D2C side of the business and recently have seen over 75% of customers on a subscription versus one-off purchases (from Feb to June 2021).

• Metrics in D2C are strong: between Jan and June 2021, LTV has increased by 63% and currently sits at £533.

RESILIENCE

We are a fast-paced nimble business that thrives under challenging circumstances. When Covid struck we pivoted in just seven days into a D2C model and have delivered over 80,000 boxes since March 2020.

CUSTOMER-FIRST

• We are rated Excellent on Trustpilot.

• Almost 40% of D2C acquisition is referral-based, based on our survey in Feb 2021.

• 90% of customers rate our service as being very good or excellent.

We are perfectly placed to harness the bottom-up demand from consumers to change the food system for good through greater traceability and accountability in the food cycle.

*Based on unaudited management accounts

Monetisation strategy

We have been revenue-generating since day one. There are three core revenue streams:

• Production, Sourcing & Delivery of Fresh Produce

• D2C Subscription model & transactional margin for one-off purchases

• Recycling subscription & invoice payments

Commercial partners

By growing produce for our commercial partners ourselves, we are able to minimise costs. Our focus on large corporates allows us economies of scale when buying from partner farms and to better forecast when growing on our own PGD farms to ensure minimal wastage.

Recycling & Waste Services

Effective cross-selling between Produce & Recycling teams ensure an efficient business. Clients are on a monthly subscription of bag purchases or bespoke pricing for larger contracts.

The company runs its recycling business through PGD Recycling Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pale Green Dot (Holdings) Limited. Our recycling arm conducts its operations both directly and, where appropriate to a client’s needs, indirectly by use of sub-contractors as suppliers.

Third Party Logistics

Our strong logistics fleet has created opportunities for 3rd party deliveries. This reduces cost significantly, improving profitability, driving additional revenue and cash flow without significantly increasing our cost base.

Use of proceeds

The investment will enable us to grow as hospitality opens back up. We are primed to increase market share as chefs choose new suppliers with sustainability in mind.

Funds will be used to grow our production on PGD farms, grow purchasing with partner farms as well investing in people, training, and systems to improve sales, marketing, and operations. We will also be investing in more efficient logistics, expanding to meet demand from a growing customer base. With a strong pipeline, funding will allow us to take advantage of the significant revenue growth opportunities which we now have. We aim for this to take us through to profitability.

The investment will also help accelerate our certification to becoming a high-scoring B-Corp Company (electric vehicle fleet, farming investment, and facilities improvements). This is becoming a differentiator in terms of companies wanting to work with B-Corp-certified organisations, both for our consumer business and corporates.