🗞️ FrontFundr alumni making headlines

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

• New products?! Sign us up. Uproot is pushing out innovative new products from Jamaican Beef Patty Pies to Cumin Dill Lamb Dumplings and customers are loving it with significant growth across these categories. Check out what else is new in their latest update.

• DameSara has been leading a circular economy project in partnership with churches and community organizations. Check out their latest update on this project.

🥳 Alumni wins

• WeChalet is taking part in a Scaleup Insights series with Startup Montreal, highlighting its mission amongst other innovators in the space.

• Blossom featured in Betakit for their record-breaking $2.1M campaign, a.k.a. the single biggest launch day in FrontFundr history.

• Tuktu Care in the press! Featured in The Globe in Mail for their advancements in community-powered technology and innovative approach to senior care.

✍ What’s on our mind?

As the boycott of Loblaw-owned stores stretches into its second month, small independent food retailers and alternative grocery options are rising to the occasion.

Forage Market in Edmonton saw a 57% increase in sales during the first half of May. Similarly, grocery cooperatives, where stores are owned by their members, are seeing a surge. Steep Hill Food Co-op in Saskatoon reported a noticeable rise in membership, and Toronto’s Karma Co-op declared 2024 as their biggest year for recruitment yet.

Loblaws recently announced its readiness to sign a voluntary grocery code of conduct, aiming to create a fairer playing field for suppliers and smaller retailers. A great step forward, but in the meantime, the boycott is breathing new life into community-based grocery options.

Innovative grocery services are also seeing a spike in interest. Odd Bunch, an Ontario-based company that sells “ugly” produce at a discount, reported a 60-70% rise in traffic and conversions in early May compared to the previous year.

These trends come against the backdrop of a booming food retail sector. Since COVID-19, the industry’s net income has nearly tripled. Major chains are using these profits to reward shareholders through share buybacks and dividends.

Despite being considered a “low margin” business, the grocery sector has proven to be highly profitable. The boycott of big players like Loblaw is opening doors for small retailers and innovative alternatives, reshaping the grocery landscape.

As consumers continue to seek out and support local and ethical shopping options, the future looks bright for these small but mighty players in the food retail market.

☕ Our coffee reads

• Rea is reading: —scratch that—watching the movie Her to hear Scarlett Johansson voice an AI bot. Oh, wait, who needs a movie? ChatGPT made that a reality!

• Trieste is reading: about how to spend less time in meetings and more time enjoying the summer sun.

• Jyoti is reading: up on color theory and then binge-watching Bridgerton to see those hues in action.

👋 FrontFundr Feature

Have you listened to our podcast yet? From Funding to Fame has been live for a little over a year now and we’ve had so many amazing conversations with founders, industry experts, and all of the innovators who have raised on FrontFundr.

Check it out on:
Spotify / Apple / YouTube

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📨 Send it to Slack

• Got some free time this afternoon? Join Jaden from our Business Development team on our webinar with Boast to learn more about capital raising.

• Curious about how Blossom achieved their record-breaking results? We just published a case study on it!