Deux's founder and CEO Sabeena Ladha prepares for major retail expansion after her vegan cookie ... [+]
DeuxFunctional cookie dough startup Deux (pronounced as “dough”), which was conceived on Instagram last year taking orders through direct message and Venmo, expects brick-and-mortar retailers to be a major sales driver in the coming years after recently closing $1 million in seed round, according to founder and CEO Sabeena Ladha.
The newly raised capital is led by a list of executives, entrepreneurs, and investors in the CPG space, including Erewhon Market’s CEO Tony Antoci, Brandin Cohen who sold his business Liquid I.V. to Unilever, MVMT’s cofounder Jake Kassan, Lemon Perfect’s founder and CEO Yanni Hufnagel, brothers Carter and Courtney Reum who cofounded VC firm M13, as well as Sway house TikTokers through their fund Animal Capital.
Deux, which has grown 600% in sales over the past six months, and has become one of the top-selling desserts at Erewhon, is also expected to use the money to fuel its product innovations, including Drip, a healthy alternative to Ferrero-owned chocolate hazelnut spread brand Nutella.
Antoci wrote me via email that brands in Erewhon that hit on these dimensions — great taste, clean ingredients, and loved by consumers — can scale themselves naturally, and “Deux is special because it goes above and beyond on all three.”
Combining Cookies With Immunity-Boosting Ingredients
As a former marketing analyst and brand manager at PepsiCo and Diamond Foods, and later ventured out into VC, helping launch several direct-to-consumer products, Ladha is no stranger to the CPG world.
MORE FOR YOU
She noted how the idea of launching an enhanced, vegan cookie dough was born during the peak of the COVID pandemic.
“The trend of people getting into the immunity sector was gaining momentum, and I thought ‘what if we add all the immunity vitamins into mini chocolate chip cookies’?” Ladha said, noting a saturated cookies aisle filled with gluten-and grain-free options ultimately drove her to reinvent the relatively less competitive cookie dough sector.
“That category has virtually been undisrupted, with Pillsbury and Nestlé owning 90% of the half-billion-dollar market,” Ladha said.
Deux believes it has the potential to expand into other healthy snacking categories beyond cookie ... [+]
DeuxThe two heavyweights in the food industry have recently rolled out a cinnamon toast crunch cookie dough and a bite-sized edible cookie dough under Toll House, respectively, with emerging brand Sweet Loren’s introducing a line of cookie dough cups for the summer — a sign that there are continued tailwinds for this “nostalgic and conforming” category, according to Ladha.
When Deux was officially launched online last October with four different varieties, including ginger doodle, chocolate chip, brownie batter, and peanut butter chocolate chip, it quickly achieved its two-month revenue target within one week, leading Ladha to quit her full-time job, and expand their production from home kitchen to a local co-manufacturer.
Coupled with Ladha’s established industry network and Deux’s strong online traction, the startup was able to attract investors early on, including Kassan who has also invested in several other CPG products, such as Truff sauce and Mezcla plant protein bars.
“Personally, I’m a big fan of low-calorie, low-sugar products made with clean and minimal ingredients,” Kassan recently told me, “and Deux hits that all the way through.”
Upcoming Launch In Natural And Mass Channels
Investors, including Cohen and Courtney Reum, have also voiced their support for Deux’s upcoming expansion in the mass and natural retail channels as the company is currently in talks with Whole Foods and Sprouts for potential partnerships after experiencing high velocities in other stores, including Foxtrot.
“As the founders of M13, Carter and I are personally very excited to invest in Deux and support our former employee Sabeena,” Reum recently told me. “We always hope that people go onto even greater things and excel post-M13.
“To succeed, you need to have the right product, at the right time, and in the right context. Deux is one of those products in the food category that meet the criteria of delicious, nutritious and convenient.”
Ladha expects Deux to further tap into the single-serve category where nutrition bars play a key role in driving sales, and expand into adjacent healthy food categories in the future.
“I forecast we’ll do about $1 million in sales in our first year,” she said, “and somewhere between $3 million to $5 million depends on our retail growth.”
The Link LonkJune 29, 2021 at 07:00PM
https://ift.tt/2TfOSog
Erewhon’s Top-Selling Cookie Dough Brand Deux Raises $1 Million Seed Round To Expand In Retail - Forbes
https://ift.tt/2CmfU4u
Cookies
No comments:
Post a Comment