A fast-growing online retailer has moved into a bigger warehouse in Glasgow after receiving financial backing from more than 700 vegans across Britain.
TheVeganKind.com has relocated into a new 12,000sqft base in Maryhill which will allow them to stock up to 15,000 vegan products.
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The new facility is four times the size of their previous warehouse and includes a 1,000sqft chill room so that more chilled deliveries can be shipped to their dedicated customer base across the UK.
The move follows a successful crowdfunding campaign which saw donations from vegans from all over the UK and raised more than £65,000.
Co-founders and husband and wife team Scott and Karris McCulloch, from Dalmarnock in Glasgow, ran the campaign to help their business cope with rapid growth and phenomenal customer demand for meat-free and dairy-free products.
The funds will also enable the company to install pallet bays, recruit an additional customer services advisor, and invest £35,000 on a targeted billboard advertising campaign promoting TheVeganKind and a vegan lifestyle for all, in early 2019.
Karris, 32, and Scott, 35, launched TheVeganKind from their living room table in 2013 after struggling to find easily accessible vegan options on the high street – with an idea for a monthly subscription box that would make the transition to a vegan lifestyle much easier.
In a matter of months, the business had grown so quickly that they had to take on their first 1,000sqft warehouse to help keep up with demand, and less than two years later the business had continued to grow so rapidly that the company had to relocate again, to a 3,000sqft warehouse.
Further growth meant the 15-strong team were packing around 10,000 orders each month, and the McCullochs realised they’d once again outgrown their current space.
Commenting on the campaign, Scott said: “We decided to launch a Crowdfunding campaign with the hope that our loyal fanbase of friends, customers, supporters and onlookers would be able to help realise our dream – and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response.
“It’s been really humbling watching the donations flood in. People were digging deep to offer anything from £5 to £50, and a number of corporate sponsors pledged significant sums of money to ensure we reached and exceeded our initial target of £50,000.
“We will always be seeking investment and re-investing our own profits to ensure we keep growing, but seeing hundreds of amazing people rallying together to help us reach our target has been incredible and will ensure that our growth plans get off to a flying start.”
The business raised £65,473 with 710 supporters in 28 days. Some of the campaign’s corporate pledgers include Violife, Vego Chocolate and Follow Your Heart.
Scott continued: “We’re a small company with big blue-chip thinking. We want to create the biggest and best 100% vegan online supermarket than the UK has ever seen so you will know that if it’s vegan, you can get it from TheVeganKind.
“In the two years since we first moved into our 3,000sqftwarehouse, we reached over 250,000 combined social media followers, and by the end of this month we’ll have shipped around 15,000 subscription box and supermarket orders in December alone.
“The internet and social media have been key in helping to expand people’s understanding of what’s going on in the meat and dairy industry, which is why veganism is becoming an increasingly popular lifestyle choice.
“The steep growth of TheVeganKind Supermarket is testament to that. Veganism is about choosing a lifestyle that avoids unnecessary cruelty and harm. No one inherently wants cruelty on their conscience.”
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