How one UEL entrepreneur reaped a windfall
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Published
30 January 2023
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What's with wonky fruit? They're misshapen, ugly, unattractive to the consumer and snubbed by the supermarket. But one man's trash is another man's treasure and to Giuseppe Baidoo, pictured right, the unloved orchard rejects were an inspiration.
Giuseppe, who studied with the University of East London, never set out to run his own business - "I never had an entrepreneur mindset," he says - but two years after the official launch of sustainable food firm Gusto Snacks, he and his business partner are filling the shelves at Selfridges - and watching happy customers strip them clean again.
He was studying industrial and product design when the idea of a sustainable food business took hold.
He said, "During my final year project my teachers helped me to find a solution to the food waste problem."
Inspiration from a mentor
He came up with the idea for a fruit-based drink using apples that supermarkets would reject - "wonky fruit" - and pitched it during a session with industry insiders
"That is when I met an entrepreneur who told me: 'This is something you can do'."
"He took me under his wing and we tested a few products in the real world. At the time, it was not what I really wanted to pursue but I used the opportunity to learn the industry, understand what works and what doesn't work."
The fruit drink idea he launched in 2016 - Ooze Drinks - never took off, but something was ignited in Giuseppe. The thrill of taking a product to market fired his imagination. He started investigated what else he could do with the windfalls.
He moved from drinks to snacks - with the same idea, taking wonky fruit and, this time, turning them into sustainable, sugar-free, air-dried crisps.
The final piece of the jigsaw fell into place when he linked up with business partner Claudio Owusu, pictured left, and Gusto Snacks was finally born. This was 2018.
Eight hours to dry the fruit
Those early days were sketchy. "Initially we bought an air dryer from Amazon and we and it would set it up in my room," said Giuseppe. "It would take like eight hours to dry the fruit. I was wondering, does Claudio really want to do this?"
Fortunately, Claudio did. And he brought to the business complementary skills and is now COO. They both shared a similar background. They both originated from Italy, Giuseppe moving to the UK from in 2012 and Claudio a year later. Their paths had crossed when they both worked at a Tesco warehouse together, each seeing in the other a work ethic and a drive to succeed.
Claudio said, "It took us two years to develop the product. I was pitching to the likes of Tesco, Asda, Planet Organic, Ocado to get feedback.
"Meanwhile, Giuseppe was spending time finding a manufacturer, finding out how to move the product moves from A to B, and all the regulations. Luckily we found a manufacturer who works from source and sends us the finished product which really helps us to focus on growing the business."
Within two years, they'd created a viable product and market testing suggested people loved the sustainable snacks. They officially launched in 2020, although they had registered the business in 2019. That was so they could enter competitions with the aim of winning some kudos and, more practically, some cash to keep the business afloat.
It worked. They gained support, and startup money, from the likes of NatWest and Santander to keep their finances healthy and their ambitions alive.
They launched in December 2020 - right into the teeth of the pandemic.
Covid had closed all the shops and shuttered their original route to market. They were faced with a tough choice: stop, wait or pivot.
Taking a leap of faith
"We said, let's just take a leap of faith, we believe in ourselves, let's just do it," said Giuseppe. "If it goes well, fine, if it doesn't, that’s fine as well."
They pivoted, targeting subscription boxes that became a feature of the lockdown.
Claudio said, "All the positive feedback gave us the confidence to go ahead."
They had 10,000 units to sell. They topped that figure and went further, selling 11,000 by moving into a second production run.
Giuseppe said, "Online was booming and we had already pitched to stores, so once things were back to normal after Covid the stores were contacting us. It was easy to pivot back."
Their next target was to win over a big brand name "to give us credibility".
Claudio said, "It took us almost a year to get into Selfridges, knocking on the door, sending them multiple emails."
Fortunately, Giuseppe had already built some key relationships from his drinks business, and he was able to work his contacts to pin down the key decision makers.
Gusto told Selfridges it had two flavours. Selfridges said, come back when you have four. So they did. And this time they come along with some free advice for the "best department store in the world".
Claudio said, "We went into the store, we took some pictures of the products they had on the shelves. We said, 'This is what you guys have, this is what you guys are lacking, this is how we can help'. So it was that offer of persistence and creativity that helped us get us across the line."
The launch date for Selfridges was September 2022. And they had some thinking to do before that date. With little money, how could they tell the world that Gusto Snacks could be found at the prestigious address of 400 Oxford Street W1A?
Ingenuity, that's how. They turned their lack of money on its head. They took to the streets brandishing cheap cardboard signs with slogans such as "Our marketing budget is as low as our calories - buy our snacks so we can do better."
The took pictures and posted them on social media.
Going viral
The campaign went viral.
Giuseppe said, "We got 11,000 likes on LinkedIn, 200 shared posts, including from some prominent people in the industry. In the first week the first batch of the snacks were gone."
There was a double boost from the social media campaign too.
Claudio said, "The post generated a lot of interest from organisations and investors reaching out we also happen to be in a moment when we are raising capital for the next stage of the business. What we want to do is use Selfridges as a stepping stone into other retailers."
Gusto Snacks is looking to move 50,000 units this year, but Claudio and Giuseppe have capacity to produce one million. And that’s they're aim now, seeking out high impact investors to move them and their wonky fruit up to the top of the tree.
My top advice to student entrepreneurs
Looking back at his time in higher education, Giuseppe said, "The Giuseppe back then would be quite impressed with what I've become! I was looking to find a job. That's all. I had no idea where I would be.
"So many students think that when you come to university it's about finding a job and that's it. But you can actually create your business here - it's like an incubator - and I hope that we can be an inspiration. There is so much talent around here but it's all about thinking outside the box and going beyond your comfort zone.
"The key differences for me were, coming to uni, having the opportunity to present my work and making mistakes. Some people might think failing in the first business as a failure, but it is a learning curve. Also gaining some contacts in the industry. Networking, meeting people, it changes the game."
Read more about how Gusto Snacks utilised networking for maximum impact.
Find out more about how the University of East London supports entrepreneurs.
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