MFB - My Food Bag

[winner69]

See Theresa name in New Years Honours

My Food Bag sales $30m now

Must be an IPO one day ......huge growth, expansion into Australia, world next ..... 10 times sales and a $300m IPO

[kizame]

I wish them well. It's a terrible name,but there are lots of listed companies especially in the US with silly names that fly, so...
However unless they moved into another area such as catering,or baking,I think it will gradually fade, as something else shiny takes punters interest and inspiration.

[artemis]

I know a lot of people in Australia use the Lite N Easy food service, not to lose weight, but just for the convenience of home delivered prepared meals.
http://www.liteneasy.com.au

.......

I know people in Oz who swear by Lite n Easy. But I think that the Food Bag folk are targeting a very different market, one not served by pre made and delivered food, or by online grocery shopping. Seems to me like the target market is foodie couples and families who don't have the time or head space to scour the recipe books and do the shopping. But want fast, interesting and quality.

The people I know who do Lite n Easy, only two so not a large sample, are more interested in work and play than food. They want food / fuel which is right there, fairly tasty, no thinking needed, a bit healthy. The food - 3 meals a day plus snacks is all labelled for which day it is to be eaten.

[macduffy]

There's headline in today's AFR - behind a paywall of course - about Kevin Roberts of Saatchi and Saatchi allegedly buying into My Food Bag. Perhaps that rumoured IPO may be on the way?

[sb9]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=11414281

Here it is from NZ Herald...

[Beagle]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=11414281

Here it is from NZ Herald...

On the face of it this looks like it could be an attractive float if it happens but I can't help but ponder how sticky customers would be at the prices they charge ? Once they've been on board for a month or so and experienced the variety of menu idea's what's to stop time poor customers ordering the same ingredients from one of the supermarkets with online shopping and delivery and just following the cooking instructions / menu's used previously ?

[Toasty]

I was a reluctant food bag customer. Now I am a happy customer. Wife works (harder than me) and decided that she didn't want to have to keep planning dinner every night. The cooking is easy, its the planning what to have and then getting the ingredients that is a pain (so she tells me).

She loves it so that works for me. The meals are amazing as well and I thought I had it good before. I would probably be an IPO customer just on my experience thus far. Food turns up as regular as clock work and its all fantastic quality. No need to get little extras because its all there. I don't know how they make it all fit together but it seems to work really well. I thought it was a joke when I first heard about it.

[Harvey Specter]

On the face of it this looks like it could be an attractive float if it happens but I can't help but ponder how sticky customers would be at the prices they charge ? Once they've been on board for a month or so and experienced the variety of menu idea's what's to stop time poor customers ordering the same ingredients from one of the supermarkets with online shopping and delivery and just following the cooking instructions / menu's used previously ?

Those people wont get it in the first place, they will take the free recipes from the supermarket or buy a Jamie Oliver/Free Range Cook cookbook every second year.

The idea is to eliminate all the hassle of getting a meal, so that the cooking can be fun. See Toasty post for the perfect example.

My concern is what are their margins and can they get enough scale to make it a substantial business. While there are some economies of scale, the logistics of sourcing, packing and distributing food doesn't (compared to a SaaS type product)

[macduffy]

I'd second that, Toasty.

The idea doesn't appeal to me - an infrequent dinner preparer - but I have a daughter who's been a keen customer since MFBag's early days, who swears by it. Gets it fortnightly so there's an extra element of variety to the evening meals. I've enjoyed a few meals there - nice to have something a bit different and yes, the quality is good. An added bonus, I'm told, is that the kids - fussy eaters - for some reason also enjoy the MFBag meals.

If it ever IPOs I'll be taking a serious look.

[Exodia]

Thanks for the link, looks very much like IPO on the way unless someone steps in to buy them out.
I wonder if its going to come soon so they have the capital in aussie

Article on Stuff today:
Grocery delivery company My Food Bag says it has no need for further capital to fuel its rapid growth, but will not rule it out in future.
On Monday the company claimed to have surpassed $40 million in annual revenue since launching two years ago, with 15,000 subscribers receiving weekly free-range ingredients and recipes.
Asked whether a public listing or capital raising was on the cards, spokeswoman Angela March said there was no need at present.
"My Food Bag is both profitable and growing and they have no need for further capital at this time," she said.
"Of course this may be reviewed in the future."
The company also announced the appointment of global marketing expert Kevin Roberts as chairman.
Roberts, who has taken an investment stake in the business, is the executive chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide and was chief executive of the ad agency until last year.
His career has also included senior positions with Pepsi, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, Lion Nathan and Spark.
"The MFB crew is smack bang in the sweet spot," Roberts said. "This is an up-and-running high-growth business delivering real profits."
My Food Bag is expanding into Australia, with Sydney and Melbourne markets now being served.