Purely Elizabeth - AMPD Investment Proposal

Purely Elizabeth and AMPD Investment Proposal 

As being a part of AMDPs Research and Development team, I want to make sure to be analyzing high potential companies that align with the department standards to thus have synergy in investments. That said, the company Purely Elizabeth has been making strides in the health and food world and would be an interesting opportunity to keep our eyes on. I highly recommend investing in them and will outline viable reasons below in this memo in the following order: 

• Setting the investment standards for AMDP 
• Explaining the beginnings of Purely Elizabeth 
• Outlining their sustainability drive 
• Providing an overview of their product range
• Summarizing the financial history of the granola and breakfast industry 
• Breaking down their current market perception and financial forecasts 
• Providing and explaining my recommendation 

AMPD Investment Standards 

Triple Bottom Line: This is progressing past the ideals that businesses follows a linear path of profitability through revenue-based approaches that the typical “bottom line” of accounting usually possess. The Triple Bottom Line (TBL for short) is understanding your business beyond the traditional forms and looking into the profits your business makes through being socially, environmentally, and economically conscious to both the communities its present in, its customers, shareholders, and employees. It is a true reflection of how profitable your business is past the generic metrics of monetary value and can determine the longevity of a business (Chamberlain).

Corporate Social Responsibility: Assuring to integrate social and environmental issues into business operations is the essence of CSR. This means allowing conversation and interactions with stakeholders that circle around crucial conversations to promote awareness and action. This allows companies to maintain balance of economic, environment and social causes. The main aspect to remember is that CSR should align with the goals and vision of the company without hindering their “economic viability” (“What Is CSR?”). 

Social Enterprise: The core objective of social enterprises is to make the lives of others and surrounding communities better through socio-economic developments. Every social enterprise follows the business model of earning profits through normal business practice but equally using that for social causes. So, instead of paying off dividends and focusing on profit maximization, they reinvest to fulfill a specific social objective (Vaidya). 

Carbon Footprint 

What is a carbon footprint? The total amount of greenhouse gasses that is released into the atmosphere when any daily activities are undertaken, food or clothes are produced, traveling, fossil fuel combustion, manufacturing and more. These gasses include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide (Badamasi). 

How do we measure it? As a measure of weight - so the metric tons of Co2 in a given time frame (usually annually). To attain the actual number, it is done by summing the emission from every stage of a certain product's lifetime. This summation is what is put together to calculate each person or an entity's entire usage also known as the carbon footprint (Selin).

Why is it important to reduce it? It is important to reduce our carbon footprint because carbon dioxide and the other aforementioned gasses absorb and re-emit energy as heat back into the atmosphere at high rates. This overheating impedes the natural temperature and homeostasis of the environment which results in climate change. This has ramifying effects on agriculture, animals health, and natural disasters. Reducing our carbon footprint is a crucial step to restoring balance in the world (Fecht).

Pure beginnings of Purely Elizabeth

Purely Elizabeth, founded in 2009 as a not-for-profit company, is creating a new, vibrant and elevated experience when it comes to ingraining healthy food into everyone's pallets. The company focuses on creating granola and oatmeal variations which are gluten free, Non-GMP, vegan, Paleo + Keto friendly, contain no artificial flavors whilst still being innovative, organic, and nutritious with its textures, flavors and tastes. They manage to pack superfood seeds like Chia, Quinoa and Flax seeds alongside coconut oil into most of their ingredients (“Purely Elizabeth.”). This first started when the founder Elizabeth Stein was creating specialized foods to help her clients with their specified eating needs (“Purely Elizabeth.”). She famously started a blueberry mix to make health-conscious cupcakes, and this soon became the catalyst into other breakfast foods until it reached its granola and oat market today. 

Commitment to sustainability

This company not only focuses on enriched and nutrient heavy breakfast foods, but is also part of the 1% For The Planet - showcasing the importance of not just the benefits of the final product, but also placing emphasis on a clean and sustainable journey. There is a heavy emphasis on how the planet's health is reflective of our own personal health and this mentality radiates throughout all their missions and incentives. Purely Elizabeth focuses efforts on regenerative agriculture as the company and its founder believe that industrial farming has stripped the nutrients and biodiversity of most of our crop yields and have amassed neglected ecosystems at large. 

They emphasize their three pillars of to promote regenerative agriculture which include:  

• Investing in farmers 
• Research and testing 
• Responsible sourcing 

By partnering with other companies to outsource products such as Aliet Green for coconut sugar, Treehouse Almonds for almonds or Mad Agriculture for regenerative oats, they manage to help other businesses that also follow the same mission which sets the precedent for more potential businesses to come. This has allowed them to streamline their services from soil to shelf all in a positive manner to enhance their company mission of “living purely” (“Purely Elizabeth.”).

Products offered

Primary focus on breakfast products which include: 

• Granola (vitamin enriched, keto friendly, grain-free and collagen options) 
• Superfood cereal 
• Oatmeal (prebiotic filled) 
• Coconut sugar body scrub

Each of the products come in various flavors, health restrictions, package deals and have no artificial sweetener rather only uses coconut sugar (“Purely Elizabeth.”).

Financial History

Industry trends 

The granola market is expected to grow at CAGR of 4.5%, which is at a rate of $3.753.3 million in 2023 to about $5.8283 million in 2033. 70% of the market belongs to the US, Germany, Japan and Australia, while the US specifically takes 32.6% valued at $1.223 million. The expected exponential growth is in conjunction with the increased health-conscious populations as it is high in fiber content and low in fat while still providing taste and convenience (“Granola Market). 

Market Perception 

Industry Opinions and Reputation

• SEMCAP’s - a growth investing impact company - managing partner John Haugen said, “Purely Elizabeth is catalyzing change in the food and nutrition space and changing the way food is made through its commitment to clean, sustainable ingredients that are packed with nutrition, while simultaneously delivering great taste," while also saying “Purely Elizabeth has also shown a tremendous record of growth and stellar performance, led by a genuine, purpose-driven founder who is a joy to partner with. We are thrilled to continue building on an amazing relationship that has existed for over five years” 
• Spoon University - a college student run platform to help young adults make healthy conscious choices published an article solely dedicated to Purely Elizabeth claiming it is “the healthiest granola brand on the market with appeal to just about every dietary demographic”. The article mentions how there has been a sustained image with sustainability and taste at the forefront (Dierks).
• Notably the taste of variations of granola is what draws people in and testimonials through blogs continue to praise this. One by Zoë Sessumus in the blog Epicurious described her experience in encapsulation as follows: “I grabbed that bag and read through the ingredients, wondering how the heck this Elizabeth person got that perfect crunch. It's not a break-your-teeth crunch here, it's subtle, almost a soft crunch. Amazing texture. Wonderful flavor. Healthy ingredients. I am completely hooked on this stuff.”.

Notable Business and Financial Updates

• They follow an innovative business model to emulate the current trends and health trajectories. At the start of the COVID pandemic, there has been a spike of interest in Vitamin D awareness and even after the peak of the virus sustained interest in general immune health. With this, the company launched an organic and sustainable, plant-based Vitamin D3 source as a means of providing this essential vitamin into diets in crucial times.  
• In the beginning of 2022, the company closed off on a $50 million Series B funding to create a bolder rebranding, e-commerce enhancement, product innovation and increased marketing. This round funding was by SEMCAP, Swander Pace Capital and Fresh Del Monte (“Purely Elizabeth Closes $50M).  
• Since 2018 Purely Elizabeth grew with a 55% CAGR and is solidifying its brand as the leader in the breakfast category. Retail doors have been doubled, moving from 8,000 retailers in 2018 to 15,000 in 2021 (“Purely Elizabeth Closes $50M).  

Recommendation

With the continued growth of populations being more cognizant of their food intake and general health (which was exacerbated after COVID) it breaks the door down for many health-oriented companies to come seize the market. Breakfast is notoriously a meal which sets one up for a day with adequate energy and nourishment - meaning that breakfast matters a lot. 

I highly recommend AMDP investing in this business. They have managed to diversify and adjust to their markets and external factors, they utilize any incoming funds to maintain their brand image of sustainability and fairness, they maintain adequate marketing, and they seem to want to keep growing and take advice to do so. The company is so “pure”, with a good working culture, and it is easy to see where they came from and the trajectory of where they are headed. On top of this, the founder, Elizabeth, maintains a good image for the public eye and though she possesses genuine interest towards the business and would always assure a good product over extra income. 

Works Cited

Badamasi, Hamza. “What Is Carbon Footprint and Why Does It Matter in Fighting Climate Change?” Earth.Org, 9 Feb. 2023, https://earth.org/what-does-carbon-footprint-mean/. 

Ballw, Brooke. “Purely Elizabeth Closes $50M Series B Funding Round Led by SEMCAP Food & Nutrition.” PR Newswire: Press Release Distribution, Targeting, Monitoring and Marketing, 31 Jan. 2022, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purely-elizabeth-closes-50m-series-b-funding-round-led-by-semcap-food--nutrition-301471509.html. 

Chamberlain, Alex. “Sustainability Management System: The Triple Bottom Line.” Sustainability Management System: The Triple Bottom Line, 21 Mar. 2023, https://www.era-environmental.com/blog/sustainability-management-triple-bottom-line. 

Dierks, Kennedy. “15 Super Bowl Snacks from Trader Joe's to Make Game Day Easy.” Spoon University, 29 Jan. 2023, https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/super-bowl-snacks-from-trader-joes. 

“Purely Elizabeth Closes $50M Series B Funding Round Led by SEMCAP Food & Nutrition.” PR Newswire: Press Release Distribution, Targeting, Monitoring and Marketing, 31 Jan. 2022, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purely-elizabeth-closes-50m-series-b-funding-round-led-by-semcap-food--nutrition-301471509.html. 

Fecht, Sarah. “How Exactly Does Carbon Dioxide Cause Global Warming?” State of the Planet, 17 Mar. 2021, https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/02/25/carbon-dioxide-cause-global-warming/. 

“Granola Market: Market Insights on Granola Covering Sales Outlook, Demand Forecast and Key Trends.” Future Market Insights, https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/granola-market. 

“Purely Elizabeth Launches Superfood Cereal with Vitamin D and Whole ...” PURELY ELIZABETH LAUNCHES SUPERFOOD CEREAL WITH VITAMIN D AND WHOLE FOOD INGREDIENTS THAT FUEL YOU, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purely-elizabeth-launches-superfood-cereal-with-vitamin-d-and-whole-food-ingredients-that-fuel-you-301606393.html. 

“Purely Elizabeth Launches Superfood Cereal with Vitamin D and Whole Food Ingredients That Fuel You.” PR Newswire: Press Release Distribution, Targeting, Monitoring and Marketing, 16 Aug. 2022, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purely-elizabeth-launches-superfood-cereal-with-vitamin-d-and-whole-food-ingredients-that-fuel-you-301606393.html. 

“Purely Elizabeth.” Purelyelizabeth, https://purelyelizabeth.com/pages/about. 

Selin, Noelle Eckley. “Carbon Footprint: Ecology and Conservation.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 Apr. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/science/carbon-footprint. 

Team, Wallstreetmojo. “Social Enterprise.” WallStreetMojo, 4 Sept. 2022, https://www.wallstreetmojo.com/social-enterprise/. 

Vaidya, Dheeraj. “Social Enterprise.” WallStreetMojo, 4 Sept. 2022, https://www.wallstreetmojo.com/social-enterprise/. 

“What Is CSR?” United Nations Industrial Development Organization , https://www.unido.org/our-focus/advancing-economic-competitiveness/competitive-trade-capacities-and-corporate-responsibility/corporate-social-responsibility-market-integration/what-csr.