Invest in Safe, Scalable, Zero-Waste Inspired Farming

Edible Garden is the perfect marriage of farming, technology & distribution.

Dec 10, 2020

Heyyyo,

It may come as a surprise, but I’m the resident ‘grocery-person’ in our household and for the past few years I’ve done nothing but complain about the quality (or lack thereof) of the produce options at pretty much every grocery store I frequent.

Let’s put it another way, I’m a typical entrepreneur, which is to say I can do literally nothing domestically. And yet, when we recently bought a house, it was the garden that sold me (I can hardly keep a house plant alive).

With all the AgTech, supply chain and sustainability advancements how is it that my lettuce looks like shit before I have a chance to eat it — assuming it ever actually looked good 🤦‍♂️

I’m hoping Edible Garden can change this… let’s take a look, shall we?

For the uninitiated, each week I try to feature startups and other investment opportunities that I’m looking at with the added hook that you don’t have to be rich AF to participate (if you don't know what that means, click here).
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Side Note: I know many of us are starved for social interaction, but can I just say how freaking excited I am to not attend 42 office parties this year?? 2020 makes you really appreciate the small victories — like not going to TAO ever again, or running into the drunk but “fun” guy living his best life under a stained Santa hat.

PS: If you typically send corporate gifts, please just send more booze (or those little chocolates with rum in them… 🤗).

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Scott

Company Bio

Edible Garden is the leader in locally grown organic produce and herbs — backed by state-of-the-art sustainable and Zero-Waste Inspired hydroponic indoor greenhouses and farms run by proprietary farm management software.

What makes Edible Garden an exciting company is it has a compelling story to tell and it communicates that message effectively. In other words, Edible Garden has already established a strong brand image, which is one of the hardest things for any company to accomplish, especially a startup.

Meet the Founders

Watch my full interview with Edible Garden’s Co-founder and CEO Jim Kras here 👉 https://youtu.be/js1s-69l8dY

Jim Kras is Edible Garden’s CEO. Prior to this, Jim spent nearly a decade as a CMO where he specialized in building high profile brands, new product development and operational turnarounds for private and publicly traded companies.

Jim’s a true marketing guy in a space DESPERATELY in need of good marketing.
He’s also a refounder [a person who refounds or re-establishes something], meaning he took over for the founding team. As a person who’s made a career out of refounding companies, I have an appreciation for the art. It’s not to be confused with a turnaround or founder/CEO replacement. It’s a unique occurrence where the founding team builds something incredible, be it a brand or system, that is usually working well, until an outsider comes along and sees an even bigger vision — one that the existing founders might not be well positioned to tackle — and they step in.
In the case of Edible Garden, the founding team built an awesome infrastructure, but Jim’s imagination and outside perspective enables the company drive forward in ways industry insiders simply cannot.

The Edible Garden Team is more than 56 strong, including some of AgTech’s most respected data and farming specialists.

I only mention this because we typically showcase startups with >10 employees and when you look at Edible Garden, the company has already surpassed that early “can you build a team?” benchmark. And, because Jim has surrounded himself with a killer support staff.

Traction

100% sales growth YOY, projected to reach $11M in 2020
Sales: Walmart, Meijer, Target, ShopRite, Hannaford, Kroger – 5000+ doors!
AgTech/future farming patented technology—self watering displays & software
Sustainable & local grow operations—NJ, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan & more
Social mission—support local farms/local jobs, 300+ direct/indirect jobs

Edible Garden is a promising investment opportunity, and not just because of the company’s strong financials ($18 million valuation), growing customer base (100% YoY sales growth) and extensive retail distribution network (the brand is already available is more than 5,000 stores and has existing partnerships with Target and Walmart, two of the largest retailers on the planet).

Market Opportunity

The organic food market in the U.S. alone was worth $47.9B in 2018, growing at an annual rate of 5.9%. Organic produce has captured nearly 15% of that market, as more consumers seek transparency and integrity within their food.

Branded produce when looked at as a standalone, continues to outperform its contemporaries as well. Edible Garden plays in both these arenas.

Edible Garden markets itself as a safer, more eco-friendly, more technologically advanced agriculture company. Combine that with the company’s commitment to locally-sourced produce and healthy food — two macro cultural trends — and you have good reason to believe Edible Garden is building a business that’s as sustainable as its harvesting process.

Of course, Edible Garden will have to contend with the numerous other, more well-established food brands available on grocery shelves. But if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that our country needs to prioritize physical health and promote sustainability, both economically and environmentally, and Edible Garden works toward all those goals.

Terms & Takeaway

Invest in Edible Gardens here 👉 https://bit.ly/39Tw701

Security Type: Crowd Safe

Valuation Cap: $18,500,000

Investment Goal: $1,070,000

Raised (as of publishing): $219,616

Minimum Investment: $100

Here's what I like: Honestly, Edible Garden is one of the best micro-investing opportunities I have seen yet. It combines the best of eat local, organic, controlled hydro, tech and fantastic branding. And, while admittedly, I’m a sucker for great branding; i’ve eaten the product and it’s great. The reason most produce sucks is because it sits on a truck too long — which is not the fault of the farmer. But, it does open the door for Edible Garden. While most competitors spend time figuring out better travel arrangements for their veggies, or ways to increase crop yield; Edible Garden decided to strategically place controlled hydro farms throughout the supply chain to simply shorten the trip. Brilliant.

Additionally, the market is trending towards organic, healthier food options. People want to know what they eat is safe and actually good for them (not pumped full of shit with 12 vowels). Then there’s the distribution component. Here’s where you can purchase the produce…

enough said.

Here's what I don't love: This business is brutal. Getting (and keeping) distribution channels is ruthlessly hard. Agriculture lobbyists spend more money than Facebook to make sure things stay the way they are. To be successful, Edible Garden will rely on local farmers, which in some cases stand to take a big hit because they’ll effectively be redistributed workers — though it can also be said that some areas will see a farming resurgence as a result of the same.

Also, shit happens in farming, even under the watchful eye of the world’s best tech.

Who should invest and why: Here’s the catch, this isn’t a typical startup. They have 50+ employees. The value cap is $18.5m and there’s no discounts. Payday will be IPO or a massive exit (or flop). Then again, what’s the right price for a great deal… a $5,000 Doordash seed investment is worth $6,000,000 at the time of publishing (with 90% dilution 🤯). For my money, this is a top shelf company with massive potential.

Regardless of your investment thesis, I’d give this one a hard look!

And, for all you blockchain enthusiasts; Edible Garden also leverages blockchain technology at every stage of the supply chain in order to ensure full transparency, traceability and safety throughout every product line.

As always, startup investing is super high risk, anything can happen. So, don't invest money you can't afford to bury in your (edible) garden... 🚜💰