Levain Bakery’s Post

WHAT IS HYPERBOLIC DISCOUNTING AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT DECISION-MAKING? Why do we value immediate rewards more than long-term rewards? Hyperbolic discounting is our inclination to choose immediate rewards over rewards that come later in the future, even when these immediate rewards are smaller. ➡ SCENARIO Consider the following; Sarah, a young entrepreneur who pours her heart and soul into her new bakery. After months of hard work, she finally secures a lucrative investment deal. The investor offers her two options: ✳ Immediate Buyout: Sarah receives a lump sum of $1 million upfront, allowing her to immediately expand her bakery, hire more staff, and potentially open new locations. ✳Staged Growth: The investor agrees to invest $200,000 annually for the next five years, totaling $1 million. This would allow for a more controlled growth strategy, focusing on perfecting the bakery's offerings and building a loyal customer base before expanding. Despite the potential for long-term success with the staged growth option, Sarah is heavily tempted by the immediate access to a large sum of money. She dreams of the possibilities that come with having $1 million at once, envisioning the grand opening of her new bakery and the impact it would have on her business. Sarah's inclination towards the immediate reward, even though it might hinder long-term growth, can be explained by the concept of hyperbolic discounting. Individual effects 👇 Hyperbolic discounting can result in poor decision-making because it incentivizes impulsivity and immediate gratification. Decisions that prioritize short-term gratification often neglect and detract from our long-term well-being. Another way to look at this is that hyperbolic discounting can blind us to the benefits of long-term decision-making, which can occasionally result in returns substantially bigger than those from more immediate judgments. #decisionmaking #businessgrowth

Our food system is broken. I am not sure what events could be considered significant enough to constitute a wake-up call for the Government and our nation. Is it apathy? Food impacts health, NHS, sustainability. We cannot take the economy and pricing out of consideration, people need to eat, and feed their families. If Greggs (or whoever else) comes in with a cheap option, they are going to be successful. But can business and the Government do better? The system needs consideration across raw materials, production, distribution, education, taxation - it is vast. For a nation that has been heavily reliant on UHPF's for several decades there is also the consideration of taste adoption. How can we change the narrative?

Day 6: How much is too much? TL;DR: The first production run is terrifying. You’ve developed the recipes, found your copacker, signed on with a distributor. Your can design is on point and has been cleared by the TTB and the COLA has been issued. Your marketing team is biting at the bit to start blasting out tasting events and trade show appearances. Your sales team is ready and already have LOI’s signed by some major accounts. So how much do you produce? You have to at least hit the co packers minimum. But beyond that, it’s a juggling act of market proof, funding, supply chain management, projections and forecasting, and maybe some luck. That’s it….there’s no help here today. I don’t know the answer. Our strategy is to do a marketing run (35 cases of each SKU) and start getting LOI’s signed in order to secure some real funding for scalability. But we can’t sell those. So maybe we do a full run per our cost analysis to make us profitable in order to re invest for the next run but then we run the risk of sitting on inventory or running out because we won’t have a realistic model of the market interest. Either way we know we need to hit the hyper local market hard. Like HARD. Suffice it to say, I’m still figuring it out. I’m really hoping other founders have come across this and I’m wondering how they approached it. Good luck out there. Stay up, Brian #startup #growth #scaleyourbusiness

If you haven't started reading Errol Schweizer's new venture - The Checkout Grocery Update, it's definitely worth the time. This week he walks through an in depth review of Sprouts Farmers Market that is informative and tough but fair. He walks through their evolution and lauds their significant operational and financial progress since Jack Sinclair took the helm. Errol's key points include: - They have positioned themselves as 'mid'...mid market, mid priced, mid standards. - They've become the innovation hub for new items via well curated displays. - Operational execution of promotions and new items is superior and provides more value back to the CPGs. - Their private label is growing extensively and uniquely . He asserts, "Sprouts doesn’t have the charm of @Mom’s Organic Market, the low-priced gravitational pull of Aldi or Walmart or the high standards and oddball quirks of Natural Grocers. It is still doing that “farmers market” shtick. Sprouts, by tightening up their go-to market strategies, is full of optimism and momentum and still remains, happily, stubbornly “mid”." From a personal perspective, I think they're better than mid, but that's colored by the fact I live in Florida, dominated by a few players. I enjoy that I can do a complete shop in their stores (after all, we need paper towels and other items, too) but still have the farmers market feel. It's wonderful that we can get a wide assortment of organic and gluten free items that my local regional grocer doesn't carry and their operational (in stock and cleanliness) conditions exceed others. If you haven't been to a Sprouts lately, you should definitely add them to your list of must see. Retail Insight #operations #grocery #farmersmarket #innovation #onshelfavailability #waste #retail #startups https://lnkd.in/edw7Rv6N

This summer is the "Summer of Savings" as more and more grocers cut prices on select products. #food #FoodCost #grocery #FarmsCloseBy #DefineLocal #hyperlocal #local #franchise #franchiseopportunity #EndAlz #VC #invest #investment #investor #hydrogen

A sale of Bread Holdings Limited which includes the cafe chain, could take place next year after rapid growth under its owners since 2021, Sky News understands. The owners of Gail's, the chain of bakeries and coffee shops, are preparing to hire advisers for a sale that would value it at well over the £200m price tag at which it changed hands nearly three years ago. Sky News understands that Bain Capital Credit and EBITDA Investments, a fund backed by serial restaurant investor Henry McGovern, are drawing up plans to appoint bankers, potentially before the end of this year. Gail's, which is also part-owned by Luke Johnson the former Channel 4 chairman and prominent entrepreneur, has grown rapidly in recent years. Part of Bread Holdings, its sister company, The Bread Factory, is a leading independent bread producer supplying premium customers and supermarkets. The group changed hands in September 2021 in a transaction valued at more than £200m. At the time, GAIL's Bakery had just over 70 bakeries trading across the country, with that figure now standing at more than 100. Although concentrated in London, it now has sites in locations such as Brighton and Oxford. Are you a regular at this great Bakery chain…? #bakery #privateequity #chain #sale #growth #expansion #hospitality #major #business #In Sky News https://lnkd.in/edVA_Z5w

Robert Downey Jr and CPG exec enter $28B coffee category with Happy Happy, a new coffee venture backed by actor Robert Downey Jr. and entrepreneur Craig Dubitsky, enters the $28 billion U.S. coffee market with light, medium, and dark roasts. The brand emphasizes traceability with QR codes on its packaging and a commitment to quality and scalability. Despite the saturated market, Happy focuses on affordability and quality, prioritizing a better coffee experience at a reasonable price. Dubitsky, known for Eos lip balm, incorporates lessons from past ventures into Happy's packaging, using recyclable cube containers for a multi-sensory brand experience. The company also aligns with mental health awareness, featuring QR codes linking to NAMI's website on every container, aiming to redefine the connection between entrepreneurship and philanthropy. The insight here is that even with star power and industry experience, breaking through a competitive market requires a strategic blend of quality, affordability, and purpose-driven branding. #CoffeeBusiness #Entrepreneurship #BrandStory https://lnkd.in/d3QRfTaS

Bethenny Frankel has joined the mocktail madness. With her recent investment in Mingle Mocktails, the Skinnygirl founder is using her prowess in the beverage industry to help a product she firmly believes in to dominate its growing market. You only have to look at Instagram ads and TikTok product placements to see how much the non-alcoholic space is booming. The market was valued at $281.1 million in 2021, and is anticipated to hit $642.2 million by 2023—and last year, NielsenIQ ranked Mingle the fastest-growing brand in its category. So how is Frankel helping the company take off? It all comes down to three key lessons from her Skinnygirl days. 1. Focus on the cake before the frosting. 2. Don't leave money on the table. 3. Listen to your customers. I got the full scoop for Inc. Magazine: https://lnkd.in/eEZUxxzH #entrepreneurship #branddevelopment #retail #CPG #consumergoods

Even when saving food and ensuring potentially wasted food isn’t part of my job description, I do my best to connect people to food before it goes bad in my free time. It is so crazy to me that sometimes there can be legal consequences to that. “As her store was closing, Ridley asked her boss if she could take home some food, at least the perishable stuff, and her boss told her no—that food belonged to the bank now. Which was true. But also—disgusting.” Something that gets me up in the morning every day is knowing that there are people working on the businesses and policies of the future, actively participating in the #greatturning and creating the preconditions necessary for all beings to thrive - with clean water, access to healthy food, and secure housing/environments to live in. Another very true story about the way the world works right now is that everything is falling apart as a result of business as usual. “Investors handed one young guy with an MBA $100 million to launch a bunch of convenience stores. Meanwhile, the amount of bank credit available for small businesses has been shrinking after adjusting for inflation. The issue isn’t that VC-backed companies are encouraged to take big risks and swing for the fences; it’s that they’re encouraged to pour in money, create a bunch of problems, and then speed off in their Teslas.” If anything, we need to look at things falling apart as an invitation to improve them. And keep fighting for common sense laws that ensure humans, and their very real urgent needs to house and feed themselves, not ‘starving creditors,’ are put first. I invite you, if your first reaction to these thoughts is based on business as usual - “yes but that’s just how it is,” or “well how else could it be?” - to take a deep breath and challenge yourself to see a different reality before responding. If you started backwards from a future where all humans are taken care of, where people and the planet came first before profits, what else could possibly be true about our current circumstances. What opportunities would be available to shift business as usual?

In today's ever-changing market, the fast food industry faces a critical question: Is it growing or on the brink of decline? 📊 Dive into this insightful article to explore the trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the future of fast food. From economic pressures to evolving business models, find out where the industry is headed. 🌎💡 https://lnkd.in/eSG4qajz #FastFoodTrends #IndustryGrowth #ConsumerBehavior #TechInFood #BusinessInsights #MarketAnalysis #FranchiseNews #FoodIndustry