Nearly half of Aussies have suffered some kind of digestive health issue in the past year. Partly because 9 in 10 Australians aren’t getting enough fibre through their diets. Gut health doesn’t get much attention but the pandemic accelerated people’s awareness about digestive and gut related issues. Local Melbourne Business, “The Good Seed” which produces healthy drinks, ice pops and shots is on a mission to fix Australia’s gut health problems.
The business just raised $750K investment in just 24 hours through a combination of private and equity crowdfunding investment round on Birchal. The CEO and director, Ivy Ong, was stunned by the investor community’s response to the investment offer and texted to the team, “holy mother! Can’t string words together”.
Ong and her husband Adrian Soon, co-founders of The Good Seed, started their business back in 2016, making water kefir, a fermented probiotic drink like Kombucha, to address their own niggling health issues. The Good Seed\’s new healthy soft drink range, Sorted, was picked up by Coles Supermarket in February 2022 to supply 400 stores in the eastern states in a whopping $1 Million deal (covered by The Herald Sun).
Since its launch in November 2021, they’ve sold over 85,000 cans, making it one of the fastest-growing consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands in Australia. Even as they were getting ready to raise capital, they expanded distribution to South Australia. The funds will be used to ramp up production, hire staff, scale marketing and product innovation.
After a devastating blow to revenue during the pandemic years, The Good Seed recovered quickly due to innovation behind the Sorted range. Sorted is a new kind of soft drink. As a functional beverage, it contains up to 30% of an adult’s recommended daily fibre intake. They added prebiotic fibre for it’s health benefits. It has zero sugar and it’s 100% natural. It was created to meet a growing consumer need for better-for-you products and digestive health concerns.
Ong has her eyes set on the $38 billion Aussie functional beverages’ market and wants to expand the business overseas this year. “We’ve only achieved about 5% market penetration in Australia. There’s a lot of opportunities to grow”, said Ong when asked about the growth potential of the business.
