# Strong Roots Financial Model

Strong Roots is an Irish plant-based frozen food brand selling vegetable-forward products (fries, burgers, bites, hash browns) through grocery retailers across Ireland, UK, and the USA.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/strong-roots
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/strong-roots.xlsx
- Category: Hardware/Deep-tech
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Series A
- Funding: $18.3M
- Founded: 2019
- Geography: Ireland and UK (established); USA in active expansion [DECK slide 13]. EU and Rest of World explicitly excluded from plan [DECK slide 13].
- Customer: B2C

## About the company

Strong Roots is an Irish plant-based frozen-food brand selling vegetable-forward products through grocery retail. It operates across Ireland, the UK, and the US, where retailer distribution, freezer placement, product velocity, and brand awareness are the principal scale levers.

This is a consumer-products model: revenue follows units, price, product mix, and retailer coverage, while margin depends on ingredients, manufacturing, trade spend, frozen logistics, and inventory. International expansion can increase volume but also adds working-capital, distribution, and promotional complexity.

Model units by country, retailer, and SKU, net price, distribution, and repeat velocity. Include COGS, trade spend, frozen freight, inventory, marketing, and overhead. Store rollout, pricing, product mix, gross margin, promotional intensity, inventory turns, and retailer concentration should drive scenarios.

## What's included

- 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions
- Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule
- Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking
- Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check
- Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR
- Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention

## Product & value proposition

- Frozen plant-based food products targeting the mass consumer, positioned at the intersection of health, sustainability, and convenience.
- Product categories:
  - Root vegetable & fries (potato alternative): Sweet potato fries, garlic roasted sweet potato, mixed root vegetable fries, roasted beetroot wedges.
  - Burgers, bites & hash browns (meat alternative): Pumpkin & spinach burger, kale & quinoa burger, beetroot & bean burger, cauliflower hash browns, spinach bites, broccoli & purple carrot bites.
  - Fruit (ingredient/addition): Ripened avocado halves.
- 11 SKUs at time of deck, targeting expansion to 36 SKUs.
- Clean-label positioning: no artificial colours, flavourings, or GMOs. Gluten-free options.
- Mission: "To provide plant-based, environmentally responsible, positive food choices, for everyone, for now."

## Market

- No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM figures stated in the deck.
- Macro tailwinds cited:
  - World population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 (+2 billion over 30 years from ~7.8 billion).
  - Red meat consumption per capita grew from 23.1 kg to 43.2 kg (1961–2014); dairy from 75.5 kg to 90.0 kg.
  - 42% of shoppers globally think about the environment when buying food.
  - 66% of consumers prepared to pay more for products from companies with positive social/environmental impact.
  - 70% of consumers globally make dietary choices to help prevent health conditions.
- Google Trends data shows accelerating search interest in "frozen food" and "food waste" 2004–2019, both reaching index peak of 100 by 2019.
- Competitive market: frozen food grocery category; competitors include McCain, Birds Eye, Quorn, Aunt Bessie's, Fry's, Amy's, Linda McCartney's, Goodlife.

## Revenue model

- B2B wholesale / trade sales to grocery retailers. No DTC, foodservice, or online-first channel mentioned.
- Retail partners include: Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's, ASDA, Ocado, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, Harrods, Dunnes Stores, Co-op (UK/Ireland); Target, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Wegmans, The Fresh Market, Central Market, Safeway, Fairway, Lucky, Nugget Markets, Mom's Organic Market, Wakefern Food Corp, Gelson's, Jensen's (USA).
- Revenue is driven by SKU count × retail distribution (number of grocery doors) × velocity (units sold per store per week).
- Grocery customer count growing: 16 → 34.
- SKU count growing: 11 → 36.
- No pricing data (RSP or trade price) disclosed in the deck.

## Traction & metrics

- Started with €100,000 of start-up capital.
- Raising €15,000,000.
- Founded 2015; deck dated 2019 - approximately 4 years of operating history.
- Grocery customers: growing from 16 to target of 34.
- SKUs: growing from 11 to target of 36.
- Retail footprint includes 25+ named grocery chains across Ireland, UK, and USA.
- Brand ranked #1 in consumer research (Ireland) across four attributes vs Birds Eye, Quorn, McCain:
  - "Offering something different": Strong Roots 39% vs McCain 27%, Quorn 25%, Birds Eye 14%.
  - "Health conscious brand": Strong Roots 37% vs Quorn 33%, McCain 29%, Birds Eye 14%.
  - "Different to other brands": Strong Roots 35% vs Quorn/McCain both 25%, Birds Eye 14%.
  - "More innovative than other brands": Strong Roots 32% vs Quorn 29%, Birds Eye/McCain both 17%.
  - Source: Core Research, Pre-Campaign Evaluation 15/12/18, Ireland.
- Awards: multiple Great Taste Awards (2016–2018), multiple Grocer New Product Awards (2017–2018), Nexty Award Winner 2019. First frozen food brand stocked in Harrods (2018).
- No revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, or volume figures disclosed in the deck.

## Competition / moat

- Competitive set (UK/Ireland): McCain, Birds Eye, Quorn, Aunt Bessie's, Fry's, Amy's, Linda McCartney's, Goodlife.
- Strong Roots claims to be the only brand in the frozen category that is simultaneously: plant-based (fully vegan), responsible (planet-friendly and sustainable), positive-food (no artificial colours, flavourings, or GMOs), accessible (not niche-only), and innovation-driven. Competitors only partially meet these criteria.
- Consumer brand equity: ranked #1 across differentiation and health perception vs major incumbents in Ireland.
- Founder credentials: 10 years in fresh produce and global crop sourcing + 2 years in creative design/art direction.
- Early mover in plant-based frozen food for the mass market (not niche health food); positioned to capture the mainstream consumer shift.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- Founder & CEO: Samuel Dennigan. Background: 10 years in fresh produce and global crop sourcing, 2 years in creative design and art direction.
- No other named team members in the deck.
- Funding ask: €15,000,000.
- Use of funds: Not explicitly broken down in deck. Implied purposes from strategy slide: expand grocery customer base (16 → 34), expand SKU range (11 → 36), grow in Ireland/UK/USA markets.

## Recommended financial model

- Archetype + why: **DTC/wholesale branded CPG P&L (revenue-to-EBITDA 3-statement)** - specifically a grocery/retail distribution model. Strong Roots is a pure branded FMCG manufacturer selling to grocery trade. The correct model is a retail P&L: net revenue (gross sales less trade spend/deductions) → gross profit (net revenue less COGS: raw materials, packaging, co-manufacturing/production) → brand investment (A&M/marketing) → overheads → EBITDA → working capital (inventory, trade receivables) → capex (if any owned production). Not SaaS, not marketplace, not subscription.
- Forecast horizon & granularity: 3–5 years, annual (monthly for Year 1 if possible). Given early-stage fundraising context, 5-year P&L sufficient; add quarterly Year 1 if use-of-funds deployment matters.
- Key drivers & assumptions:
  - **Number of retail grocery customers (doors):** 16 → 34; expansion pace.
  - **Average number of SKUs per account:** 11 current range; target 36 SKUs;.
  - **SKU rollout cadence:** 11 → 36 SKUs;.
  - **US market contribution:**.
  - **Working capital - inventory days:**.
  - **Startup capital deployed:** €100,000 historical; new raise €15M; model cash deployment by use of funds over 3 years.
- Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
  - **Base:** Target 34 grocery customers, 15–20 avg SKUs/account, moderate velocity, 40% gross margin.
  - **Bull:** US retail scales faster (Whole Foods, Target national rollout), 36 SKUs achieved in Year 3, gross margin expands with volume to 45%.
  - **Bear:** US entry delayed by 18 months, UK grocery slowdown, gross margin compressed to 33% due to input costs or trade spend pressure.
- Required sheets / outputs:
  1. Assumptions - all drivers above, by geography (Ireland, UK, USA)
  2. Revenue build - SKU × accounts × velocity × price, by geography and year
  3. P&L (IS) - gross sales → trade spend → net revenue → COGS → gross profit → A&M → SG&A → EBITDA
  4. Balance Sheet - simplified (inventory, receivables, payables, cash, equity)
  5. Cash Flow - operating CF, use-of-funds deployment, runway
  6. Use of funds - €15M allocation by category and year
  7. Sensitivity - gross margin % vs velocity assumptions on EBITDA

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Strong Roots financial model free?

Yes. The Strong Roots model is a free Excel download with live formulas.

### Can I change the assumptions?

Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.