Recent estimates indicate that some 25–35% of daily energy intake now comes from snacking. Snacking is strongly associated with unhealthy diets mainly because snacking tends to involve the consumption of energy-dense foods that are rich in added sugar and/or saturated fat and are of poor nutritional quality. People generally seem to have a preference for unhealthy snacks over healthy snacks, as evidenced by research on the “unhealthy equals tasty” intuition.

Bananas are the world’s most exported fresh fruit (US$10bn/year). They are an essential source of income for thousands of rural households in developing countries. 1 in every 3 bananas consumed in the world comes from Ecuador. However, agrochemical-intensive production along with declining producer prices has given rise to many environmental and social challenges.

We make delicious organic energy bars based on dried rejected bananas. We have been winning people over wherever we go as a new alternative to cereal, nut, and date-based bars. Bananas are a natural energy booster, along with nuts, seeds, cacao and superfood, it makes for a perfect snack on the go in between meals and an ideal energy bar for before or after sport.

We are on a mission to make healthy and pleasurable snacking experiences the norm and make banana farming 100% free from social and environmental abuse. We made sure to use only organic ingredients. We source our dried organic bananas from Ecuador, where supporting the growth of the organic banana plantations is our way to fight against the industry norm of using highly poisonous and carcinogenic pesticides. We use only rejected bananas not suitable for the export market and commit 1% of our total revenue to support the farmers in Ecuador we work with.

Business model:

We use a transaction-based business model. Our customers are both B2B companies such as wholesalers, retailers, E-commerce websites, catering companies, and direct customers that we reach through our online sales channels (margins are between 34-50%).

In 2022 we got wholesaler partners in The Netherlands, Germany, Finland, France and Italy. We got listed at Odin, Kesko, Ruohonjuuri, LPg Biomarkt, Amazon, Bol.com, ect..

Customer type:

B2B, B2C, B2B2C

Preferred investor type:

Angel investor, Strategische investeerder

USP’s:

We are the only energy bar brand in Europe using dried bananas as the main base and as a natural energy booster. We are a mission-driven brand, which makes us special in the energy bar market, and since our launch in the market, it has been an important selling point for both B2B and B2C customers.

Capital amount needed:

€300.000,-

Investment need:

• 49% cost of goods sold;
• 29% salaries;
• 22% marketing.

Objective 1: expand the core team with rocking sales and marketing team members. We will hire one sales representative, one online marketing manager PPC expert, and one freelance content marketer.

Objective 2: grow total revenue by 400% in 2023 (total revenue 400.000 EUR) with a focus on our key markets in Germany, Scandinavia, and The Benelux.

Objective 3: increase E-commerce sales channel revenue by 500% in 2023 with PPC campaigns on Google, Amazon and social media. Launch of our webshop in Germany in Q3-2023.

Objective 4: design a brand new E-commerce website and brand development.

Objective 5: launch two new products in Q3-2023.

Objective 6: raise equity seed round of 500.000 EUR in February 2024.

Sector:

Consumentengoederen, Food, Impact

Phase:

Early Growth

Number of founders:

2

Current number of employees:

1-5

Experience founders:

One of the founders is a food entrepreneur and food technologist who graduated at Wageningen University & Research. He has been working as a hospitality manager in Italy, Ireland, and Germany successfully improving the turnover and profit margins of restaurants and cafes where he operated. He has been a food entrepreneur in India and The Netherlands operating in the coffee and snack industry. Since 2019 he has been working on this company. He oversees product development, sales and operations.

The other founder is a brand strategist and designer with several years of experience at international advertising and PR agencies, such as Weber Shandwick in London, BBH, and Ogilvy in Mumbai. She oversees marketing, branding and design.

Monthly turnover:

€5.000,-

Turnover (forecast) next 12 months:

€400.000,-

Turnover (forecast) months 13 – 24:

€1.200.000,-

Current monthly expenses:

€7.000,-

Additional information:

We are looking for investors who would like to join our entrepreneurial journey and can ideally support us financially, commercially and strategically to accelerate our international growth.

There are no investors present in our company. We got the innovation loan of 150.000 EUR from Rabobank.