Lick aims to become the leading face of frozen yogurt in the UK, Europe and beyond. Our tubs are available in Sainsbury’s Locals (210 stores), Sainsbury’s Supermarkets (325 stores – up from 250 last year) Waitrose (95 stores), Ocado, Yo!Sushi, Budgens, Londis, Wholefoods, Planet Organic, Picturehouse Cinemas, Holiday Inn and loads of independents, delis, cinemas, restaurants, offices, schools and universities all over the UK. We plan to begin exporting this year and already have significant interest from several potential European customers. We believe we have only realised a small part of Lick’s potential, but have achieved enough so far to have complete confidence that our product and brand is the absolute best in the market.
Our frozen yogurt is all-natural, fat-free and made from 100% yogurt using the special method that we invented and spent many years developing. Our frozen yogurt is creamy and indulgent yet completely fat-free, leaving the palate fresh and clean. There is nothing artificial in Lick, so the delicious and tart flavour of pure yogurt is all that you taste. In independent consumer testing Lick has come out on top against four competitors in terms of taste, texture and branding.
We are based in the Lick Warehouse, in central Brighton, home to the ‘Yogurt Room’ where new Licks are thought-up, made and tasted. The Lick Warehouse hosts Lick Music, Lick Yoga, Lick School, Lick Apparel and the Lick Studio. We’ve built something real, honest and credible that people really want to be a part of.
Story
Although Lick officially began in 2008, Ky and I have been working together since our school days in Tenby, South Wales where we started selling our home-made frozen yogurt from a renovated ice-cream trike during the Summer holidays.
Our first year with one trike was a big success so we added another the following summer. A few years later we were keen to expand again so we applied for the lease on the neighbouring Saundersfoot beach which included ice-cream vans, a bouncy castle, deck chair & sunbed hire and a food van. The original trikes remained in Tenby as usual. Everything was staffed by our friends, some of whom joined us for the big move to Brighton to open Lick and still help out today.
In 2008 we opened Lick, the UK’s first frozen yogurt shop, in Brighton’s famous North Laine. The shop immediately became a place friends could hang out and a space for events such as live music sessions, art exhibitions and as a location for filming. During our five years in the shop we built up a large group of loyal Lick fans and continued perfecting our frozen yogurt recipe.
In 2012 we launched our 125ml and 500ml frozen yogurt tubs in Brighton and were blown away with the response that we got. Demand for our tubs kept on growing and by the following year Lick was on sale all over the UK. Our list of stockists continues to grow and we have big plans for the coming years.
New Product
This year we are launching what we believe is a groundbreaking new Lick product. Our all-natural, fat-free ambient soft serve froyo mix, which is intended for use in all ice-cream/frozen yogurt soft serve machines, can be stored at room temperature and is incredibly easy to use. This new ambient soft serve frozen yogurt is designed to solve a whole range of current distribution, storage and preparation issues experienced by retailers. We have several confirmed customers ready to begin ordering upon launch in April. We know that the export opportunities for this product are huge, demonstrated by the interest we are already receiving from frozen yogurt retailers internationally.
“Lick made a vibrant new trend. Their fun branding and uncompromising approach will take them far. Slurp!”
Daniel Rodriguez, Regional Grocery Buyer, WHOLEFOODS, 2013
“The coolest froyo brand in town. This is a frozen yogurt company with some serious ambition. With forays into the world of workshops, festivals, music, art and Lick-inspired fashion, it has well and truly launched a game-changing brand”
O2 Smarta Award, 2014
The UK ice cream market was worth £1.1 billion in 2013, up 7% year on year and has grown by 25% in the last 5 years (Mintel Ice Cream and Desserts Market June 2014). Frozen yogurt is the fastest growing category within the wider ice cream market and was last year worth £13.2m, a growth of 33.9% in the last year (Nielsen, 2014) and 117% since 2011.
Frozen yogurt is also seeing similar growth across Europe where there is a far more established frozen dessert buying culture. For example, in Ireland there is 400% more ice cream consumed per adult than in the UK and in Sweden 380% more (Nielsen, 2014). As we see consumers move towards healthier alternatives for their frozen treats we anticipate significant and sustainable growth in the frozen yogurt market at home and abroad.
Our research and experience to date suggests that consumers are seeking a true frozen yogurt that is neither a frozen yogurt style ice cream, nor merely an ice cream substitute but rather a delicious, healthy and distinct product in its own right.
We aim to continue as the standard bearers for genuine frozen yogurt that stands on its own when it comes to taste, texture and health.
Lick Tub Facts
-Our own special production method means that Lick makes the only frozen yogurt made entirely of yogurt
-Lick is made from 100% natural ingredients, is fat-free and low in calories
-Our broad and expanding range of stockists shows that Lick fits across a very wide range of categories – supermarkets, delis, grocers, cinemas, restaurants, grab-and-go, schools, offices….
-Lick 500ml tubs now stocked in 325 Sainsbury’s Supermarkets (up from 250 last year – 25% increase) and Lick 125ml tubs stocked in 210 Sainsbury’s Locals
-Lick 500ml tubs on sale in 95 Waitrose from March 2015
-Three rounds of independent consumer panel testing agreed that Lick is consistently rated above over other brands in terms of taste, texture, authenticity and branding
-Lick’s award winning packaging has a strong shelf-shout and stands out amongst it’s competitors
New in 2015 – Lick Soft Serve
Lick’s new soft serve frozen yogurt is designed to solve a whole range of current distribution, storage and preparation issues experienced by retailers and distributors, making Lick the perfect soft serve frozen yogurt product.
-Lick soft serve frozen yogurt is 100% fat-free
-Can be stored at room temperature
-Is easy to use – no freezing, defrosting or mixing of powders required. Just unscrew the cap and pour
-Has long shelf life
-Simplifies stock control and minimises wastage
-Is easier and less expensive to export than a frozen mix to the huge and growing global marketplace
-We are now working closely with the one of the world’s leading soft serve machine manufacturers to provide stockists with the best product and machine combination
Recent feedback from a major frozen yogurt retailer trial:
“We were all surprised that the quality was so high considering this is an ambient product…
An ambient frozen yogurt offers a huge benefit to both the operations of a foodservice business and to the quality of product received by customers”
Owain Williams and Ky Wright, Co-founders
It was at junior school that Ky began his adventures in business – conkers, discos, gardening, ceramics, car valeting and bike courier services. None of these businesses made a profit. In secondary school he hit the big time making and selling frozen yogurt with his best friend Owain.
They bought an ice-cream trike for £240 with saved-up pocket money and began selling their frozen yogurt to locals and tourists who would queue round the block. Ky and Owain ran their growing froyo business in their school and university holidays and eventually went on to open the UK’s first ever froyo shop in Brighton in 2008. Ky and Owain launched Lick tubs nationwide in 2013.
Tom Lavis, Creative
Tom met Ky and Owain at university in 2001 and started working with them on the beach in Tenby. He spent 8 years working in PR, marketing and A&R in the music industry and came on board full time in 2012 as head of Creative. Tom is responsible for PR, marketing and brand content and development.
Paul Brown, Sales
As Sales Director at Tyrrels Crisps grew sales from £5m to £25m in 3 years to 2011. As General Manager / Head of Sales at Firefly Tonics lead the sale of the business to Langholm Capital in 2014. Paul has a great track record in growing small food and drink companies into much larger players, and we are delighted to have him on board.
Our Advisor Group
Dan Germain
Dan, Head of Creative at Innocent Drinks, met Tom Lavis 8 years ago through a shared interest in music. Dan is always happy to meet us to answer questions, discuss ideas and generally encourage us. We don’t think we could have a better person to talk to about brand building.
Tom Wright
A Serial entrepeneur, Tom founded Europe’s first pregnancy social network Gurgle (acquired by Mother Care) and WhipCar, a peer to peer car rental service.
Fleur Emery
Fleur is a start-up entrepreneur and brand creative. She took her first business Grasshopper Porridge from concept to Waitrose in eighteen months. Her range of all-natural lager Green & Pleasant sold into The Ritz Hotel and The Soho House Group three months after launch. Fleur co-owns design agency Emery Barnard with a client list that includes Howies, Herman ze German and Peppersmith and she is a guest lecturer on branding at UCL. Fleur has been described as a role model for emerging businesswomen, was featured in the Observer Future 500 as one to watch and was this year nominated in the Female Entrepreneur of the Year category at Investor Allstars.
SALES:
Key sales drivers: Build on the established national distribution in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and others to further our position in the UK frozen yogurt tub market. Continue to develop impulse distribution to drive trial and build brand awareness. Build international distribution.
Other key sales drivers: Build a network of soft serve customers to drive volume and build brand awareness, both at home and abroad.
USE OF FUNDS:
Working capital, to support growth with major retail partners, trade marketing, building brand awareness through ‘traditional’ initiatives as well as guerrilla activities. New product innovations
Building a team to support the delivery of the plan.
EXPENSES AND PROFITABILITY:
Gross margins in the prior period were around 40%
The majority of operational expenses after direct sales’ cost in the prior period was in marketing expenses.
EXISTING DEBT OR EQUITY INVESTMENTS:
Existing debt as of the end of Feb-15 is £74,333 owed to a current shareholder and is repaid monthly. Invoice Factoring is recorded in the accounts on a net basis with the liability to the factoring company netted off against the gross sales ledger balances of Lick Ltd. This does not affect the total net assets / (liabilities) as disclosed in the balance sheet. Our outstanding gross liability to Lloyds for funds advanced as of today is £37,656.
Existing equity: £221,549 Share Premium Acc. (£3 Paid up share capital)
CASH:
Next round: Hitting plan will mean any further funding rounds would be driven by ‘out of plan’ opportunities and these would be evaluated at the right moment
We want to continue building on the strong UK sales growth we have experienced in the past 18 months and begin exporting in 2015 in order to fulfil Lick’s potential at home and internationally, and are proud that we can bring our shareholders along for the ride.
Over the next 5 years we want to build a sustainable ‘stand-alone’ business founded on the great products and branding that Lick is known for and maintain the strong, knowledgeable management team and Lick attitude. We are confident that this approach will present us with numerous options for exit in the future. We know that our sector is currently seeing exit multiples of between 6 and 7x EBITDA and thus we are confident that we could offer a strong return to investors via a trade sale or acquisition.
Some comparable exits/transactions:
In 2010, Noble foods bought Gu puddings for between £30 and £35 million
In 2013 R&R Ice cream, a Yorkshire based ice cream manufacturer, was bought for €850m by the Parisian private equity firm PAI Partners.
In 2000, Unilever bought Ben & Jerry’s and Slimfast for over $2.5 billion
When Innocent first accepted investment in 2009, they were valued at approximately £160m and a transaction last year placed their value at around £320m
An exclusive Lick tote bag made from organic cotton and a personalised thank you letter from Ky and Owain.
A limited edition screen print from one of our artists in residence
Your photo on the Lick Memory Wall at the Lick Warehouse
A case of Lick frozen yogurt in your own bespoke flavour delivered to your door
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