Page 12 - Food&Drink September 2019

✷ RISING STAR
TOP: Chief Collagen bars tap into the growing health and wellness market.
ABOVE: The original Chief bar is a meat eater’s snacking delight.
Their collagen content provided extra benefits for hair, skin and nail health. “Collagen is an anti-inflammatory. It’s been found that when you eat it, rather than putting it on your skin, it has a much more significant effect.
“In fact, it heals the gut rather than irritating it, which is really important
to us, because great gut function means great brain function, which means great metabolic function – all
of which is really cool.”
And she says unlike whey or
soy, it’s a non-allergenic protein, with no harmful effect on gut health or hormone levels.
The team will also be launching its fourth product soon, a biltong range. Justin Babet said while the range is not as innovative as
Chief ’s other products, it will provide more options
to existing customers.
A DATE WITH HEALTH
One thing the Chief crew was keen on avoiding in its bars was relying on dates.
Libby Babet says, “Dates are one of the first few ingredients in many bars. Dates are healthy – but not when you have the amount that it takes to stick a bartogether.
“Dates are full of fructose, and fructose is one of the most harmful sugars to have in your body even though it’s natural. You wouldn’t smash down five or six dates in a row – you’d feel sick – but they’re crammed into bars. So we really wanted to solve that problem and have bars that didn’t have any refined sugars, nor were
THE SNACK BAR MARKET IS EXPECTED TO REACH
us$760m BY 2024
fructose heavy. You don’t want a sugar crash, whether it’s natural sugar or not.”
Justin Babet says, “Just to put a bit more context around our view: when Libby was one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser, nutrition was one of the key areas where people fell down because they’d be snacking on moreish, sugary snacks that wouldn’t fill them up, rather just made them want more. There’s a lot of calories in sugar, which turns to fat in the body, and that’s where peopleweregoingwrong.
“Sugars are not great for your gut, so our bars stabilise your appetite hormones rather than just giving you a little hit. They really satiate.”
LEAN MACHINE
Just like the human bodies their food nourishes, Chief’s business model is lean and runs very smoothly.
Its five staff include co- founders Justin Babet and Brock Hatton who work full-time on the business. There is a full-time support person in the Philippines and two part-time staff in Australia. Everything else is outsourced, including manufacturing, packaging design, distribution and some marketing such as social advertising and influencer management. Their distributor is Bio Living.
CHANNEL MIX
AND EXPORT
Sales are a mix of online and retail, with products available nationwide in around 400 stores. Online sales account for anywhere from 25 to 50 per cent of revenue, depending on the month. Chief has signed on with a New Zealand distributor, with sales due to begin this month.
The company has a Chinese distributor keen to get onboard, but pricing is still a challenge. The growth of health and fitness in China makes it an exciting prospect for Chief. Since 2001, the number of gyms has grown from 500 to more than 37,000, Babet said.
It has importer approval for Lebanon and the Middle East because of existing connections in the region. The US and Europe are on its radar, but Babet says they want to establish a footprint closer to home before taking on such big markets. “The strategy for us with the US is initially via Amazon, but that will be next year,” he said.
For now, the Chief team are focused on building a strong, sustainable business in Australia and some key international markets.
It is in the process of raising seed capital to help that happen, and from there, its goal is to buildaglobalbrand. ✷
12 | Food&Drink business | September 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au