Small Business: Yummo hoping to take a bite out of snack market

What inspired you to start the business?

The actual inspiration came to me when I was on a play date with another mum and asking her what she was putting in her kids’ lunchboxes. I was questioning how we knew the snacks we were giving our kids were actually good for them.

Then I thought why not do a subscription service where people subscribe to get snacks? And then it got to another level where it was that they needed to be nutritionist approved so that we had that reputable backing. So we ended up finding a nutritionist, who is also a mum, who we still work with today.

Yummo cofounder Abby Greenberg said demand for the service was greater than she anticipated. Photo / Supplied

The business has over 400 products now. How have you built that up?

At the moment you can either buy a pre-made box which we build, or you can just explore our range of products and build your own. We’ve really hustled and contacted suppliers to get to where we are, but now we’re at the point where they’ve been reaching out to us, which is great to see.

It’s also just a lot of looking on social media to see if there are small businesses that perhaps are just running out of a market at the moment.

I think we’re trying to give these businesses an opportunity to be able to sell their products somewhere that isn’t a supermarket. The margins in supermarkets are just not there for them, and while you might be on the shelf, it doesn’t mean the market will be there.

How are you balancing the business with raising your kids?

It is a juggle. My husband and cofounder Adam had a fulltime job, and we have twins, who are three, and then a one-year-old, who need looking after. I pack the orders and try to do a bit of social media and content.

Adam does some of the outreach and the finance side of the business, including the order and inventory, but it’s definitely a joint effort at the moment.

Yummo allows customers to subscribe to pre-selected snack boxes, or make their own with a number of snacks from the more than 400 options on the marketplace. Photo / Supplied

Who is the target market for the business?

There are two target markets. There are the parents and then there are the young kids. I think it’s focusing on the customers we know we can get, because it’s hard to convert people who are accustomed to more sugary, processed foods, and kids are even harder.

For example, when people buy our kids boxes, I try not to give them broccoli chips, because one of our twins loves them and the other doesn’t. Kids love things that are colourful, but we can’t make them like a product.

Where would you like to see the business in the next few years?

I would love for Yummo to be a household name where we have hundreds of families every month subscribing to us and getting a box of snacks. We only started three months ago and we’ve had 300 people give us a chance.

When we started, we thought we’d maybe sell 100 boxes in our first few months. We set the bar so low because we didn’t want to be disappointed, so I feel like we’ve exceeded our expectations. We’ve also reached $30,000 in sales now, and the money just goes straight back into the business, and hopefully we can pay ourselves back the money we put into the business.

What would be your advice to a budding entrepreneur wanting to start a business?

I think just keep pushing for things. Like, if there’s a supplier that you want to stock, you have to email them loads of times. You have to be so persistent and consistent with reaching out to people.

Also focus on the timeline. A week might be really quiet and you start doubting yourself, but just keep reminding yourself that this is a long-term gig, it won’t happen overnight.

Do you have a small business story you want to share? Send your pitches to tom.raynel@nzme.co.nz.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.