SLIDE 1 15 YEARS OF ADVENTURES IN TEA
Matt Thomas CEO (503) 367-8921 matt@townshendstea.com
SLIDE 2 Today’s Conversation
- Company history
- Funding growth with debt & equity
- Managing culture through growth
- Bumps in the road
- What’s gone right so far
- Regional to national
- Strategic leadership
SLIDE 3 Current State of the Company
- 9 Townshend’s Teahouses
- Brew Dr. Kombucha producing about 600,000 bottles per week,
distributed throughout the US and Canada
- Townshend’s Distillery spirits products distributed in 4 states
- 325 employees
SLIDE 4
Company History – Portland 2003 / 2006
Startup money: $45,000 invested by friends and family
SLIDE 5
Company History – Bend, Oregon 2007
Startup money: $35,000 in personal credit card debt
SLIDE 6
Company History – Kombucha 2008
Startup money: $3,000 in personal credit card debt
SLIDE 7
Company History – Basement Growth
KOMBUCHA PRODUCTION 2009: 60,000 bottles (6,500 gallons)
SLIDE 8
Company History – Whole Foods Loan
October 2009 Whole Foods Local Producer Loan of $48,000 to fund early kombucha expansion
SLIDE 9
Company History – SE PDX Brewery
SLIDE 10
Company History – SE PDX Brewery
SLIDE 11 Company History – SE PDX Brewery
KOMBUCHA PRODUCTION
2010: 175,000 bottles (20,000 gallons) 2011: 300,000 bottles (33,000 gallons) 2012: 600,000 bottles (65,000 gallons) 2013: 900,000 bottles (99,000 gallons)
SLIDE 12
Company History – Teahouse Growth
Teahouses Opened 2006: Alberta Street 2007: Bend 2012: Division Street 2013: Eugene
SLIDE 13 Company History – 2013 $2M SBA Loan
KOMBUCHA PRODUCTION
2014: 1,700,000 bottles (186,000 gal) 2015: 2,800,000 bottles (306,000 gal) DISTILLERY FOUNDED
SLIDE 14
Company History – Teahouse Growth
Teahouses Opened 2015: Bozeman, MT 2015: Mississippi Ave 2016: Montavilla 2016: UO EMU Tea Bar 2017: Park City, UT
SLIDE 15
Company History – 50,000 sq ft Brewery
Startup money: $7M bank loan $1M equity raise Leased 6/2015 Opened 5/2016
SLIDE 16
Company History – 50,000 sq ft Brewery
KOMBUCHA PRODUCTION 2016: 5,200,000 bottles (570,000 gallons) 2017: 16,000,000 bottles (1,750,000 gallons) 2018: 25,000,000 bottles (2,750,000 gallons)
SLIDE 17 Brew Dr. Volume by Year
2008: 360 gallons % Increase 2009: 6,500 gallons 1700% 2010: 20,000 gallons 207% 2011: 33,000 gallons 65% 2012: 65,000 gallons 97% 2013: 99,000 gallons 52% 2014: 186,000 gallons 88% 2015: 306,000 gallons 65% 2016: 570,000 gallons 86% 2017: 1,750,000 gallons 207% 2018: 2,750,000 gallons 57% 2019 Plan: 3,800,000 gallons 38%
SLIDE 18 Jobs I’ve Had Along the Way
- Shopkeeper
- Bookkeeper
- Handyman
- Graphic Designer
- Copywriter
- Customer Service Specialist
- Inventory Controller
- HR Manager
- IT Department
- Brewer
- Bottler
- Production Manager
- Food Safety Specialist
- Janitor
- Delivery Driver
- VP Sales
- VP Marketing
- CEO
SLIDE 19 Growing With Debt & Equity
DEBT
- 2008 $38,000
- 2010 $48,000
- 2013 $2 million
- 2015 $7 million
- 2017 $3 million
EQUITY
- 2003 $45,000
- 2015 $1 million
- 2018 $12.5 million
SLIDE 20 2015 – A Strong First Board of Directors
Private equity investment is a great way to force professionalization
- First board built in 2015
– Have made similar decisions – Skills you don’t have at scale (finance, HR, distribution, sales, marketing, etc.)
- Enthusiasm for the company
- Analytical yet action-oriented
- Help with the pace of evolving the company
- Prepare for future investment
SLIDE 21 Keeping Culture Through Growth
Hiring experienced professionals to take positions above long-term legacy employees How to keep the OG crew invested in a new era of professionalism and teamwork
- What is fair to that person, as well as their new manager
Build a company that attracts good people It’s okay if it doesn’t work out perfectly
SLIDE 22
Building the Company of My Dreams
Authentic, responsible, transparent, progressive, innovative, fun
SLIDE 23
SLIDE 24 Bumps In the Road
- 2003 - 2006 partnership failure
– move faster, work harder on my own
– most important moment for the company. Defined the mission
– wake up call to be involved at all levels
SLIDE 25 What Went Right and Why
- Founded the company based on an opportunity that I believed in
to the core
– Tea is timeless. It will provide opportunity – Belief and LLC structure got me through the very lean early years
- Chose a great opportunity and committed to it
– More teahouses? Grocery tea product? Bubble tea outlets? Wholesale/Amazon tea business? ….nope. Kombucha.
- Made the most of being early to the party
– Being an early player meant I got to grow into easy openings
- Long-term vision. Short-term execution
– Took risks year to year that were manageable – Stayed flexible and focused while heading toward the big goal
SLIDE 26 Regional Brand To National Brand
- Leveraging regional relationships to national distribution
– Whole Foods local producer loan – Trader Joe’s – DSD model success
- Profit Margin to afford difficult out-of-region activity
– It’s all so expensive!
- Win at home every, single, year.
- 80/20 rule applies. Win at the 20%
- Strategic market strategy
SLIDE 27 Strategic Leadership Lessons
- Culture really matters every step of the way
– Transformational leadership
- Create restaurant owners, not waiters
- Entrepreneurism is an outlet for creativity
