Abhi Ramesh is a guy who made $386M selling ugly carrots and bruised bananas.
1/ How It Started
Let’s go back to 2018. Abhi’s picking apples and notices something strange at the orchard. There are hundreds of apples just lying on the ground.
He asks the farmer what happens to the fallen fruit.
Some become juice or cider. But most head straight to the dumpster. Retailers won’t stock their shelves with mangled produce.
Abhi asks if he can buy them. The farmer’s happy to oblige.
And it’s the start of a foodie empire.
বাংলাদেশে স্টার্টআপদেড় জন্য ৫টি বিজনেস আইডিয়া || Business Ideas for Startups in Bangladesh
2/ Go-To-Market
Abhi thinks he’s onto something big. There’s gotta be people who will buy misshapen fruit. But can he get his hands on enough of it?
He starts dialling farms around Philadelphia.
Turns out the supply is abundant – lemons, squash, plums. There’s a ton that won’t make it to grocery shelves. And it’s a headache for farmers.
Abhi buys everything he can.
Then he throws up a Shopify store and runs Facebook ads. He promotes his “mystery boxes” full of perfectly imperfect produce.
People bite.
In the next few years, Abhi hits 90,000 customers.
And then sh*t hits the fan.
বাচ্চাদের ট্রলি বা স্ট্রোলার হাইজিন ক্লিনিং সার্ভিস
3/ Timing is Everything
It’s March 2020 and Covid’s running hot. Abhi gets ready to shut down his warehouse. His thriving business is about to crash.
Then he catches a lifeboat. Food is essential, which means his doors can stay open.
His lifeboat suddenly turns into a battleship. In the coming months, growth explodes. People want their fruit and they want it now. A few bad apples won’t get in the way.
Revenue over the last 24 months was $386M.
4/ Why It Works
Abhi does a bunch of stuff right. Here are my favourites:
→ Selling a waste product
Grocery chains are the primary buyers and they don’t want it. The farmers are just throwing it away. Abhi exploits this inefficiency.
→ Turning a weakness into a strength with smart branding
Misfit Market is not selling deformed fruit. They’re reducing waste by repurposing food. This marketing jujitsu resonates big time. Don Draper would be proud.
→ Side-stepping the incumbents
The dumbest thing emerging companies can do is try to compete with giants at their game. You must invent your own game. That’s how you crush the incumbent.
5/ My Take
I love business models that turn trash into cash. Seriously, it’s my unhealthy obsession. And Misfit Market is giving me the good stuff.
Grocers don’t want it. Farmers can’t sell it.
Abhi comes along and packages everything just right. To him, those bruised bananas are worth billions.
Sources:
Abhi’s story of how it all started
More about trash to cash business model