Tossed, the healthier eating place, is a vibrant, light-hearted offering in the dynamic food-to-go sector. We offer a range of fresh made-to-order salads, wraps, smoothies and hot food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our view is that healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring. To us, it’s about following a balanced diet that includes lots of fresh vegetables, lean protein, low GI carbs and the occasional treat as a reward! By keeping food simple, fresh and natural, you can eat to your heart’s content, feel satisfied and have the sustained energy you need to get you through a busy day.
We have secured a total of 24 stores:
– Twelve office-facing, mostly in key London City and West End locations such as Covent Garden, Liverpool St and Baker St;
– Three shopping centre units that occupy prominent positions in both Westfield shopping centres and Bluewater in Kent;
– Six of the 36 Welcome Break service stations (secured over the last 15 months); and
– Three sites with our first international partner in Dubai.
We are inviting you to purchase shares in the company for £12.33 each. The minimum investment is one share, and if you would like to purchase more then your investment must be made as a multiples of £12.33. Investments over a certain size will attract perks as described below.
Food-to-go is an exciting, fast-paced marketplace. We have found that the retail face of the high street is undergoing a transformation, particularly in London, where increasingly health-conscious office workers and leisure seekers are demanding a better choice of fresh, value-for-money, nutritious food.
92% of adults eat out for lunch, and eating out in the UK is on the rise, particularly the takeaway sector. Consumer demand is trending towards healthy, fresh and convenience. We believe there is a place for a healthy food operator among the big players in the food industry, and that Tossed should be that challenger brand.
We have created a healthy food offering with lots of choice that doesn’t compromise on taste or portion size. We were the first made-on-site company in the UK to display all of our nutritional information, and we continue to take nutrition very seriously.
By increasing our store numbers, both through owned-store roll-out and with our carefully selected franchise partners we aim to reach a wider market, and offer a healthy choice to more people. For example, Tossed sites at Welcome Break service stations receive excellent guest feedback despite being alongside bigger, more established brands such as KFC, Subway, Burger King and Starbucks. This demonstrates that there is a growing demand from people wanting to eat healthily.
Tossed and our partners employ over 250 people, and our growth plans would see stores and headcount treble over the next four years. In an economy still recovering from recession, we feel this job creation is rewarding, and developing our amazing team is something we are passionate about.
Vincent opened our first shop in Paddington in 2005, and we have just celebrated our 10th anniversary. We have operated a flagship store from Westfield London since it opened in 2008, and will soon have 21 eye-catching, vibrant stores in various prime locations in London and the South East, as well as three in Dubai.
We have secured three multi-site roll-out partnerships with leading franchise operators and feel these demonstrate the sustainability and brand strength of Tossed, and that there is real scalable demand for a healthier eating alternative.
We are proud of our achievements to date, and others have noticed us as well:
– 2007 Future 500 One to Watch/Winner Food category
– 2008 Winner of Young Gun Award – growing business top “30 under 30” entrepreneurs
– 2009 Hotel & Caterer Acorn Award winner (this is the top award in food for under 30’s, previous winners being Gordon Ramsey & Gary Rhodes)
– 2010 Square Mile “30 under 30” winner – Entrepreneurship category
– 2012 Lunch Awards Special Contribution to the industry award
Tossed has developed a proven and flexible business model, operating in office-facing, shopping-centre and transport-hub environments. Store sales in the last financial year were £8.2m, representing annual growth of 30.3% and 8.8% same-store growth. This same-store growth has continued into our new financial year (which started in April).
We are in the process of opening our newest company shop in Fulham Broadway as well as our fifth & sixth service station sites (at Cobham & Oxford) and launching internationally with our first of three secured sites in the UAE.
Our business plan combines the roll-out of our company-owned stores in and around London with supporting our franchise partners outside of London to deliver the Tossed offer to their unique, and otherwise inaccessible, guest bases.
Our franchise partners have contractually committed to having 36 stores by 2019. So far, we have secured six sites in the 36 Welcome Breaks and have agreed to open at least two per year in the first five years. Meanwhile, our new rail and airport partner has committed to two per year and has already tendered Tossed for two London airport sites. Our UAE partner has signed up to open 20 sites within five years (and has secured three already), and we have acquired the trademark for several other countries.
The franchise partnerships will in-turn support the core business growth as we seek to scale our own site openings. We intend to have 36 company stores open by 2019.
Tossed is a well-funded business with a supportive banking relationship and a sustainable and growing profit stream. We have an experienced head office team who are excited about further growth and delivering healthy eating to a wider audience.
We expect that funds raised on Seedrs, combined with existing cash flow generation, will allow us to open our next few company-owned locations. These are planned to be London-based and will build on what we know already. We have identified several key target locations, but always remain opportunistic on site selection.
We have three IT solutions in development that will improve on our existing mobile phone applications and will ensure the guest journey in store is as seamless as possible.
Following the Seedrs fund raising, we will discuss the extension or renegotiation of our existing banking package. None of the Seedrs money will go towards refinancing the bank. Borrowing levels in the business are significantly below the bank’s covenant limits, so there is capacity to fund further store openings through increasing borrowing, or to reduce the cost of our existing debt.
In the event that we are fortunate enough to overfund, we will be able to open more stores and reach a wider guest base.
A full business plan is available on request.