Deliciously Ella #4 Bland burgers and branding under CEO Matt, daily affirmations won’t change that

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Just read somewhere that Ella took sponsorship money as part of the Qatar World Cup 2022 with Hyundai. Part of their ‘£24mil’ so called revenue is money from an event which called into question human rights and slave labour issues. No surprise that she would be of such narrow-mindedness to have her face be part of such a controversial event. So so contradictory to their ethos as a brand.
 
So. The audited accounts have now been filed at companies house and I’ve been picking it apart. Because they have been audited, we get to see the profit and loss and more details then we did before. The accounts are basically all of her companies added together.
Firstly, Ella lied about the Revenue. They made £22mil in total, not £24mil. The interesting thing is that their profits were only £1.4mil (meaning they spent £20mil on expenses). Ella and Matt paid themselves a measly salary of £12k each to avoid tax, and then shovelled out dividends of £700k.
The companies net worth is also a spectacularly low £750k, and they have net debts and loans of £3.4mil. There’s probably more to unpack, but revenue is never an indicator of how well a business has performed.
 
BringingReality said:
So. The audited accounts have now been filed at companies house and I’ve been picking it apart. Because they have been audited, we get to see the profit and loss and more details then we did before. The accounts are basically all of her companies added together.
Firstly, Ella lied about the Revenue. They made £22mil in total, not £24mil. The interesting thing is that their profits were only £1.4mil (meaning they spent £20mil on expenses). Ella and Matt paid themselves a measly salary of £12k each to avoid tax, and then shovelled out dividends of £700k.
The companies net worth is also a spectacularly low £750k, and they have net debts and loans of £3.4mil. There’s probably more to unpack, but revenue is never an indicator of how well a business has performed.
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Ugh I love to see it. Thank you for doing the lord’s work and unpacking this!
 
User41137788 said:
I think one of the worst things about this is them taking £700k each of dividends but refusing any bonuses or pay rises for their team.
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But they’ve worked really hard. They’ve built this all up from such humble beginnings. They deserve huge incomes. Molly* in accounts processing invoices doesn’t work hard, and anyway giving her a pay rise would add to inflation. They’re just so community minded.

*anyone working for DE with the name Molly is just coincidental.
 
Their launch in the US comes probably about 5 years too late and into a market that has a dwindling target audience.

It will also be interesting to see what the future brings for them with Waitrose - while the John Lewis side of the business is profitable, Waitrose operates at insane losses and they have brought in multiple people to revamp the whole thing and cut losses. Since the product development and production is funded by Waitrose mostly, I am not entirely sure this will be long lived.
 
Dreier89 said:
Isn’t it a bit crazy to expand to the US. Where there are SO many companies like hers?? Instead of focusing on the European market where the competition is way lower? Are they in any shops, besides maybe one shop in Amsterdam, in Europe??
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They are far too expensive for the European market. Where they truly don’t have competition is central/eastern Europe and the Balkans and their products and prices would het laughed out of any board room. They might have a chance with some foreign retailers but doubtful when in the UK they are mostly in the most expensive stores.

Also they stepped away from being gluten free and that was a huge mistake. That is a market they could potentially do well in because there are few dedicated manufacturers.
 
smirkingrevenge said:
Also they stepped away from being gluten free and that was a huge mistake. That is a market they could potentially do well in because there are few dedicated manufacturers.
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Yeah with veganism becoming less popular they are definitely going to regret dropping the gluten free aspect. While veganism is a choice, for many people being gluten free is a necessity so it’s a much more stable market in the long term. A lot of people followed Ella in the early days for the fact her food was gluten free rather than plant based as well. Having both (and being based on “whole foods” generally) was what made her brand unique and seen as more of a “health food”.

Also how they started putting rapeseed oil (inflammatory) and “beet sugar” into everything as well
 
bluefox9 said:
Yeah with veganism becoming less popular they are definitely going to regret dropping the gluten free aspect. While veganism is a choice, for many people being gluten free is a necessity so it’s a much more stable market in the long term. A lot of people followed Ella in the early days for the fact her food was gluten free rather than plant based as well. Having both (and being based on “whole foods” generally) was what made her brand unique and seen as more of a “health food”.

Also how they started putting rapeseed oil (inflammatory) and “beet sugar” into everything as well
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Beet sugar - most commonly known as “sugar” 😂 entirely a marketing ploy to make you think it’s healthier.
 
smirkingrevenge said:
They are far too expensive for the European market. Where they truly don’t have competition is central/eastern Europe and the Balkans and their products and prices would het laughed out of any board room. They might have a chance with some foreign retailers but doubtful when in the UK they are mostly in the most expensive stores.

Also they stepped away from being gluten free and that was a huge mistake. That is a market they could potentially do well in because there are few dedicated manufacturers.
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No one in the easter europe region will buy her overpriced crap :)). The shipping costs as much as the products and people here have low incomes, at least lovwer than the rest of eu. Aprox 900 eur monthly - from this we have to pay bank loans, bills, eat, put gas/buy public transport ti kets, raise our kids lol..
 
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