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You may have hard that our new crowdfunding campaign is now open and that we are looking to everyday people to help fund the next phase of Sun & Swell's growth, but I thought it would make sense to explain just why we're asking individuals to fund our campaign over big institutions.
A quick story....
When Kate and I got into the food industry, we weren't aiming to create a brand with a mission to end single use plastics, we just thought the world needed more clean, healthy food and we wanted to give people better options. We were naive to the enormous problem that the food and beverage industry has created in single use plastics. Then, one day, in the midst of receiving our first 50,000 unit pallet of single use plastic packaging, it hit us that we were becoming just another brand that was contributing to the problem and looking the other way while we produced products that would be used in seconds but remain on the earth for hundreds of years. At the time, I remember how one stat in particular really struck me: By 2050 there is predicted to be more plastic than fish in the ocean. The realization left me feeling confused and with a lot of questions. How could this possibly be the world that we were moving towards? How could this be what we were going to hand off to our children? And didn't anyone care enough to do anything?
We knew there had to be a better way and we knew we had to act to show the industry that different kind of snack food company was possible.
In 2020, we launched our first product in compostable packaging, won a major award, and never looked back. Since then, we've set out to show the industry what a packaged food company can and should look like. We asked people, not the industry, to come along for the journey. We asked them to support a brand that could be the catalyst for real change and that could start the end of single use plastics.
Now, sitting here more than half way through 2023, we're shocked by how it's all turned out so far: growing from $650K in 2021 to ~$1M in 2022 and now we are on pace for ~$2.5M in 2023. That translates to millions of single use plastic bags that were never produced and we've got even bigger plans for the future. What's more is that we're now seeing the industry giants take note and start to follow on. Recently, Mars, Pepsi, and Frito Lay have all launched products in compostable packaging and started to put major research into continuing the development of the technology. This is what real change looks like and your support to this point has truly been making a difference.
There is a saying that Kate and I like: If you want to go fast, you go alone, but if you want to go far, you go together. When we think back to 2020 and that pivotal moment where we decided to go all in on compostable packaging, I remember how we realized that this would no longer be just "mine and Kate's" company going forward...it had to belong to everyone who wanted to see a true difference in the world.
Now, we are putting shares of the company in the hands of our friends, family, customers, and every single person who wants to see a new type of company that will continue reshaping the packaged food industry until we finally eliminate single use plastics for good. We'd be honored if you'd join us.
Much Love,
Bryan
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