How did the business start?
[Co-founder] Mike Hodgson and I worked together at the food business Gü – he was managing director and I was commercial director when we sold the business in 2010. We worked really well as a team and when we left Gü we wanted to start something together, either creating our own brand or taking a brand that already existed and launching it in the UK. We heard of Ofer Shenhav and Angus Allan starting The Collective in New Zealand around 2009, and they wanted to bring the yogurts to the UK market. So Mike and I tried their products, and thought they offered something really new and different, which had real potential on the UK’s supermarket shelves. We partnered with Shenhav and Allen and The Collective UK was born.
What made you think there was potential with yogurts?
The range of yogurts in UK supermarkets is really dominated by big brands. We couldn’t see anything innovative in the category. Smaller brands were breaking through or trying new flavours in other food categories – for example, Teapigs products were really different. We felt we could bring that to the yogurt market.
How do you and the New Zealand side of the business work together?
We’re a joint venture but The Collective UK is a standalone business. We concentrate on what’s right for the UK market and the UK consumer. Sometimes we bring things over from New Zealand, and sometimes they take on our ideas.
We launched a coffee flavour as a limited edition here and they’ve now launched it in New Zealand. Meanwhile, our suckies [squeezy yogurt packs for children] range was first launched there. We saw it doing well, and six months later we brought them to the UK. Although there are thousands of miles between us, we still do find a lot of time to work with the New Zealand team on ideas and product strategy for both countries. We visit one another frequently and talk on Skype.
Where do you source your ingredients?
All our products are manufactured in Somerset and we use West Country milk for the yogurt. But we scour the globe for the best versions of each ingredient. At the moment we’re looking at developing a vanilla yogurt, so we’re exploring the best type of vanilla. While most people would source from Madagascar, we’re thinking Tahitian vanilla.
How do you stand out in a crowded market?
Being a small business competing in a huge product category is one of the biggest challenges. One way we stand out is to approach our marketing and customer service a little differently. We send a thank you note and coupon to everyone that writes in. Plus, we think we’ve got a unique product in terms of taste and texture. Our packaging makes us distinct on supermarket shelves – it’s clear so you can see the two layers, one of yogurt and one of fruit or fudge.
What are you most proud of?
The number one achievement is getting supermarket listings in the first place. The four or five months in the run-up to launching a food product is one of the toughest periods because you’ve got nothing to show – no consumer feedback or sales history.
Sainsbury’s and Waitrose were the first to stock us in June 2011. We brought them into prouct development early on, getting their feedback on flavours and how the products were looking, so they felt part of that journey.
Our two other key achievements are the feedback we get from consumers, which is amazing. We get over 50 emails a week and we also receive positive feedback by phone, and through Facebook and Twitter.
I’m also really proud of our team. As we have a small budget, we’ve tended to hire smart graduates. To see those graduates grow from freshly hired 22-year-olds to 25-year-olds that have real responsibility and autonomy in their roles is really rewarding.
What are your plans for the future of the business?
We’ve got three new product ranges launching over the next year and they tick two big trends in the marketplace at the moment: natural with no sugar, and healthy indulgence.
We’ve partnered up with two olympic triathletes – the Brownlee brothers. Alistair and Jonny won gold and bronze [respectively] in the 2012 Olympics and they’re going to Rio next year. We will be creating a special limited edition flavour, developed with the brothers. The flavour will run from April to August and 5p from every pack sold will be donated to the brothers’ charity, The Brownlee Foundation, which works to give local children a positive and fun sporting experience.
Lastly, could you tell us a little about Mike (Hodgson)?
I’d known Mike for over ten years when we started The Collective UK together. And it was with great sadness that we recently announced Mike passed away [Mike was biking in the hills of the Lake District last month when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest]
His family is still very much part of the business, including his wife Sara, who works in customer support.
What’s really stood out for me is how the team has coped. We want to continue Mike’s ethos and everything he put into the business.
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