Graze ceo: ‘going from clicks to bricks isn’t easy’

Graze, the £68M turnover online snack manufacturer, had to make big changes to its manufacturing and operating systems after gaining listings with Sainsbury and Boots, its ceo Anthony Fletcher has said.

The firm announced it would sell products in 1,200 Sainsbury and Boots stores on Monday (June 13), after trading online only since it was founded in 2008.

“It shouldn’t be underestimated how tricky it is to operate several different business models,” Fletcher told FoodManufacture.co.uk in this exclusive podcast.

“But, moving from ‘clicks’ to ‘bricks’ … a lot has had to change,” he added.

Winning supermarket listings didn’t represent a slow-down in online sales, Fletcher confirmed.

The company, which was acquired by the US private equity firm the Carlyle Group for £50M in 2012, saw revenues up 30% last year, he said.

‘Multichannel gives us a real advantage’                 

“Selling in multichannel [as well as online] gives us a real advantage,” he added.

“We have customers who want to buy us online, but we also have a lot of customers who want to buy us in store [because] they see snacking as impulsive.”

Read an interview with Fletcher in the September issue of FoodManufacture.co.uk’s sister title Food Manufacture by subscribing.

Meanwhile, Graze was the winner of the Judges’ Star Performer Award at last year’s Food Manufacture Excellence Awards.

Want to win a food and drink manufacturing Oscar, then read more information on how to enter can be found here. You can also call Jane Rollinson on 01293 610 439 or email: Jane.Rollinson@wrbm.com.