Invest in Pickles! – Help Us Keep Going
Summary
As short as possible – we’ve got growing pains.
Will You help us raise 10,000-15,000 euros to rebuild our production fund, invest in sales/marketing and continue bringing our dreams into reality?
8/10 – €4,050 Raised!
About Us
Over the last 3 ½ years we’ve built up Alon’s Pickles – local, organic vegetables fermented in wooden barrels, made by hand in Amsterdam Noord and sold in person, these days mostly on the Noordermarkt, and to restaurants around the city.
Why? To help our community eat local, probiotic, organic food year-round. To increase security for farmers in choosing more progressive practices by crop planning and buying surplus. To create jobs we’d like to work in, that nurture us and our communities. To use food consumption as a tool for providing for our needs and solving our problems, not creating them.
And that’s what we’ve been doing – Together with my colleagues, we’ve used fermentation to preserve tons of (mostly) surplus vegetables from local farmers, transforming them into probiotic pickles. We’ve created 8 part-time jobs and we create a weekly communal space with affordable healthy food on the Noordermarkt. Small as we are, I truly think we contribute to a happier city and healthier food system/culture.
How Come I’m Asking For Money?
Cash flow is a famously tricky and critical thing for all businesses, big and small.
Last year I came to a point where I couldn’t manage the growing workload by myself anymore. I decided to increase the spending on labor, trusting that I’ll increase the income to match that.
I’ve gathered a great team, who’ve learned and improved their jobs, and I have done some growth in sales, but there still remained a gap between spending and income, and we’ve developed a cash flow issue.
That’s where you can help us!
How Much Am I Asking and What For?
I am hoping to raise 10,000-15,000 euros with the following goals, in this priority:
1st – Rebuild Production Fund (used for vegetables/labor/jars/etc.)
For a company that makes product during harvest season to sell during the rest of the year, a hefty production fund is needed (money for vegetables, jars and labor needed to produce), and we don’t have those liquid funds to make pickles for the coming winter.
2nd – Increase income – Sales/Marketing Budget
Simply, we need to sell more. We’ve found a sales person that already works with fermented products in Amsterdam and we believe we can make it work together. But that will take a moment to pay for itself, and he deserves basic hourly pay. We think investing in his time, along with some online sales/marketing work is the best short-term investment we can make to get back to a financially sustainable situation with the company.
Bonus 3rd – Reduce recurring cost – Buy Electric Car
I currently rent the neighbor’s van every week to do the Noordermarkt.
It’s a fair price but still, investing in a car will return the investment within a year, not even considering any other occasions when we rent and use a car.
How Can You Help + Rewards
The feedback I’ve gotten from people around me is to just give them a chance to contribute and not complicate things with too many kind of rewards or pre-sale. For this reason, we will start with donations and my reward plan is to create a few kinds of “merch” (shirts, totebag, etc.) and organize an even that will be available to all who give.
If you would rather support by pre buying or in another form like volunteering your time/skills, talk to me!
