Oodle Food is breed-optimised, portion- controlled kibble delivered straight to the owner’s door, on a monthly subscription basis. The food is specifically designed for “oodle” breeds, a cross breed between a pure-bred Poodle and other dog breeds. The business is pre-revenue and set for launch in April 2022.

Paths to market will include online direct-to-consumer and third party sales (Shopify and potentially Amazon’s Subscribe & Save). Our first product will be kibble optimised for Oodles, with portion control and am/pm formulas for 2 meals a day.

Ahead of launch of the business in April 2022, Oodle Food plans to use an Australian based private label contract manufacturer, which is an existing provider to major label dog food brands. We have identified eight private label manufacturers in Australia that we will work with initially to test the product. Following our testing process across a range of manufacturers, we will work with their

chemists to determine the most appropriate food/supplementation for the Oodle breeds. We will test the product and the ingredients with our testing team, currently identified through the Aussie Online Entrepreneurs community, prior to finalising the manufacturer of the product.

Oodle Food is the latest ‘build to scale for fast sale’ business of serial entrepreneur Neil Asher. After selling his most recent business in September 2021 for A$4.5m, Neil is now building Oodle Food using his previous experience in building 7 multi-million dollar e-commerce businesses. Neil has built his success on his deep knowledge and research into the market sectors most-desired for acquisition by the burgeoning sector of online business aggregators.

To achieve our goals, Oodle Food is aiming to acquire 2,449 subscribers in FY23, growing to 7,575 subscribers in FY24 and 12,952 in FY24. We believe these are readily achievable, indeed quite conservative.

Oodle Food will use a Direct to Consumer (D2C) model to directly service customers via our website. We will be selling Oodle Food on a monthly subscription basis, from $59.95 per month, delivered directly to customers. This will drive a high level of customer retention as each continuing customer represents consistent monthly income to the business. 

The D2C model also allows us to negate costs associated with wholesale distribution networks and grow our profit margins directly as the value we deliver to our customers increases. We are able to better control product quality and fulfilment given we control the entire experience from order to delivery.

This subscription-based model allows for a competitive advantage of low fixed costs, and allows for greater customer retention rates and a fixed revenue stream. However, this model also allows for the opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell products, by establishing trust with the Oodle dog owner demographic.

Our first product will be our kibble range, with specific formulas for breakfast and dinner. Looking ahead, there is scope for further product development for other breeds or expansion of product range for Oodles.

Our main distribution channels will be through our own proprietary website, using our proprietary Shopify store, directly delivering goods to our customers. As a second online channel, we hope to use the “subscribe-and-save” function on Amazon Australia, once launched. 

We are in the process of organising commercial agreements to fully outsource each aspect of the business (detailed in the next section). Simultaneously, we will ensure customer confidence in the quality of our product and the certainty of its delivery. In turn, this allows us to minimise our capital costs and to embed scalability and profitability from the outset of operations.

Pet Food Industry

The global pet food market is worth over US$97.5bn (2021), and growing at 5% CAGR in the next 5 years. Pet owners with rapidly urbanised lifestyles are increasingly willing to spend on premium pet food, to improve the wellbeing of their pets. Globally, premium dog and cat food products have seen an 8% CAGR over the last five years, in comparison to mid-priced and standard pet foods seeing less than 5% CAGR. 

 In Australia, the pet food production industry is worth A$2.9bn, of which dog food is the largest single sector at over 37%. Over 2020-2021, both Australia and New Zealand experienced growth in buying large volumes of premium dry and wet pet food during lockdowns. Locally, premium dog and cat food is booming with growth of 15% over 2021, whilst there has been a drop of 5% in standard dry pet food.

Australia has a very high pet ownership rate of 61%, contributing proportionally more to the global pet sector than expected. Whilst COVID-19 disrupted pet food supply chains during 2021, production in Australia is still dominated by large conglomerates, including:

• Mars Wrigley Australia (including Whiskas, Pedigree, Schmackos, Royal Canin) with a market share of 27.5%. 
• Topco Investments Australia (including Natures Gift, Natures Goodness, V.I.P. Petfoods) with a market share of 17.4%.
• Nestle Australia (including Purina Pro Plan, Purina One, Purina Friskies, Purina Bonnie) with a market share of 14.8%. 

These competitors benefit from large economies of scale, a wide range of pet food brands and strong supply chains. However, the model is outdated with poor quality food and lack of customer engagement, and the industry is ripe for disruption as seen in other markets such as the UK and US.

So, what is causing the growth of the industry?

Increasing pet ownership. 

In part driven by COVID-19 lockdowns and more time spent at home, pet ownership in Australia has increased significantly over the last two years, with dog ownership increasing from 40% in 2019 to 47% in 2021 (representing 4.6 million dogs). This has resulted in greater food volume purchases and other veterinary services.

Premiumisation and personalisation of pet food.

Key buying factors when choosing pet food include the pet’s own food preferences, the quality of ingredients, value for money, and whether the food is nutritionally complete.

Many pet owners view their pets as an integral part of the family, a trend known as “pet humanisation”, and demand high-quality pet food. Pet owners now want more premium, “human quality” food, with more nutritious ingredients and increased traceability of the inputs, as well as more personalised diets based on breed and dietary requirements. Currently, 80% of a dog’s diet consists of a highly-processed, dry food diet, but this will decrease with greater demand for better ingredients, fewer preservatives and processed ingredients.

The phenomenon of treating pets with greater levels of care is concurrent with the readiness of pet owners to spend money on a wider range of other pet products, such as pet accessories and veterinary services. 

Trend for smaller pets 

As the trend towards urbanised lifestyles continues, pet owners are increasingly choosing smaller pets for smaller urban homes. This has been reflected in the pet industry, where sales of products designed for smaller pets have increased more than 73% since 2011. Specifically for smaller pets, pet owners are looking for dog treats that are locally produced or have specific health benefits for their specific dog breed, offering an opportunity for Oodle Food to step in.

Shift to online buying habits

The onset of COVID-19 prevented many customers from physically purchasing pet foods from retail stores, and also saw people spending more time at home with their pets. Australian e-commerce, growing at a CAGR of 16% through to 2024, is seeing Australian consumers shift to online shopping habits. As consumers seek more convenience and personalisation in their shopping habits, direct-to-consumer and subscription-based pet food companies will continue to grow.

For more information please see Section 2.7 of the Offer Document.

Our customers are at the centre of our operations. We’ve chosen to raise funds through equity crowdfunding to give our subscribers and customers - our key stakeholders - a chance to participate in our growth journey and to see first-hand how online businesses can be scaled and sold in only a few years. 

We see this as an opportunity to give back to our large and loyal existing online community.