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Problem
Most pizzas use ingredients that are not gut-friendly and compromise taste
The combination of wheat flour and yeast that is used to proof pizza dough can be rough on your stomach. It's particularly bad for celiacs, but many people have different degrees of gluten intolerance.
Many premium pizzas use industrial fillers—such as xanthan gum, soy oil, and canola oil—to hold their crusts together.
Solution
We naturally ferment our dough, and use only natural ingredients
- Easier to digest—Sourdough's natural fermentation process has shown to increase fiber solubility and produce prebiotic compounds that can aid digestion.
- More nutrients—The natural sourdough fermentation process means more bioavailable nutrients. During fermentation, phytic acid is broken down which otherwise would inhibit the absorption of zinc, magnesium, and many other important vitamins and minerals.
- Lower glycemic response—Sourdough fermentation is shown to retard starch digestibility leading to a lower glycemic response.
- Awesomely delicious—Our thin crusts are made with artisanal care, providing the right chew with a distinctive sourdough taste.
Product
Our pizzas are made with gut-friendly sourdough
and topped with organic ingredients.
Feel-good ingredients:
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...And now we have a gluten-free pizza,
offering ingredient and nutrition advantages while delivering Alex's Awesome taste:
- Our Gluten-Free pizza offers nutritional advantages over the leading Gluten-Free brands:
- Our Gluten-Free offering uses cleaner and 50% less ingredients than Daiya, the leading Gluten-Free brand:
- Our Gluten-Free packaging leverages our brand heritage and is high-impact:
- ...while communicating our compelling nutritional advantages:
Traction
We are the 2nd-fastest-growing premium pizza
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We have almost 2,000
Natural-focused customers
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For 2023, our primary focus is capitalizing on the initial success of our Gluten Free line
- With over 600 stores already committed to our Gluten Free line, we have increased our 2023 store count goal from 1,000 to 2,000
For our traditional line, we will continue to expand distribution by leveraging the success of our new Pepperoni and Vegan Margherita SKUs
Customers
Consumers and the press love our pizza
The Konnect Agency is managing our social and press activities:
Social Media 2021 Organic Metrics |
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Food editors applaud our
ingredients and love the taste of our pizzas
“With this California-based brand, we finally have frozen organic and non-GMO pizza we can all feel good about indulging in. The crust is baked with naturally-fermented sourdough—which results in a crispy texture and subtle tang—while the nut-free pesto and grass-fed mozzarella lends richness without weighing down even the most sensitive stomachs.”
“There’s a strong chance you got into sourdough this year, and one place where sourdough really shines is pizza crust. Alex’s Awesome Sourdough pizzas are yeasty and tangy on the bottom and light, yet flavorful on the top!”
“Sourdough became a pandemic darling earlier this year, so it rightfully deserves a place in a frozen pizza lineup. “Naturally fermented” rather than relying on commercial yeast, the increase in bioavailable nutrients in the crust itself allows this pizza to declare itself gut healthy. (Even the cauliflower crusts can’t be that bold.)”
“Alex’s Awesome Sourdough is the first company to put a frozen sourdough pizza crust on the market!...this Alex’s Awesome Sourdough Mushroom Pizza caught our eye. Its great for your gut health and provides you with 20 grams of protein and a whopping 11 grams of fiber for ½ a pizza!”
“Guys, the mozzarella pizza will blow you away. I’m not even joking. This is the best cheese pizza I have ever had. Coming out of the oven, it doesn’t even taste or look like it was frozen, which I can’t say about any other frozen pizza brand.”
Business model
Making a profitable pizza
A strategic imperative is delivering manufacturing margins of over 40% and Net Margins (after cost of goods, retailer promotions and cash discounts freight and storage) of 30%.
This was a long process that started in Alex's kitchen. Now, our pizzas are made in one of the best facilities in the United States that provides outstanding quality, can meet our capacity needs for the next 5 years while delivering our margin targets:
- Manufacturing Margins are 42% with upside
- Net Gross Margins are 27% with upside
With these margins, we need to reach 3,500 stores to reach breakeven. With current accounts commitments, we are 60% there.
Market
The premium pizza market generated retail sales of $428 million in 2021
Frozen Pizza generated revenue of $6.1 billion in grocery stores, mass outlets such as Target and Walmart and club stores in 2021. According to SPINS, the premium segment, where Alex's Awesome competes, generated revenue of $428 million.
Gluten-Free Pizza generates more sales than Traditional Pizza in the Premium Segment: |
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Competition
Our market share is growing while the leading brands are declining
...And now we are introducing a gluten-free offering, for the 56% of the market that purchases gluten-free pizza.
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Our distinct differences from
the competition will continue to fuel our growth
- The only top brand with a naturally fermented sourdough crust
- Breakthrough gluten-free offering
- 12 hour versus 1 hour for proofing
- No industrial yeast
- Organic ingredients
- No added sugar, fillers, soy or canola oil
Vision and strategy
Our goal is to reach revenue of $21 million and EBITDA of $2.6 million in 2026*
- Alex's Awesome is a brand platform based upon the distinct nutritional and taste benefits of sourdough.
- There are many other product categories which provide potential entry points—chips and crackers are two examples.
- However, the financial plan below is just for pizza.
- The proceeds of this raise will be used to help us expand our retail distribution and fund new product development.
Funding
Our investors
are industry insiders
- Presence Marketing, the premier broker in the natural foods space. The Presence Executive team are also investors.
- Scott Killips, our Chairman, has several significant exits including Wild Planet Foods.
- Several high profile family offices and industry insiders round out the investor base.
Founders team
Alex Corsini
Founder and CEO
- Former Tech Sales @ Twilio & Whil
- 2 Star Michelin Trained Chef
- Obsessed with everything sourdough
- Loves riding his mountain bike on Mt Tam (that's why its in our logo)
- BA, University of Southern California
A little background on Alex's journey
- 2016: Alex develops autoimmune symptoms and learns that modern bread, which is high in gluten and industrial ingredients, aggravates his symptoms.
- 2017: Alex discovers that he feels great eating naturally fermented sourdough. He begins baking sourdough.
- 2018: Alex quits his tech job, moves to Copenhagen to works at Michelin star restaurants and sourdough bakeries to perfect his craft. Alex launches his concept for better-for-you product, sourdough pizza, at Drivers Market (Sausalito) in September and sells out the first day.
- 2019: Alex raises seed capital and achieves distribution in 70 Bay Area stores. Presence Marketing joins the team in the Fall and begins aggressive distribution expansion.
- 2020: The business reaches 1,200+ stores and $3.0 million ARR despite Covid-19 sales and distribution challenges imposed on a new brand.
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Scott Killips
Chairman & CFO
- Successful angel investor and operator
- Co-Founder Accenture Technology Ventures
- Former partner Booz-Allen & Hamilton
- Loves going fast whether on the race track or in the mountains
- BS, University of Denver; MBA, Cornell University
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Michel Venghiattis
VP Sales
- Founder and Former CEO of Horizon Specialties Food Brokerage
- The "go to sales guy" everyone dream about but never has
- Loves food, wine and explaining to people how to pronounce his name