FT Start-Up Stories Series 2: The serial entrepreneur 10/10
May 2, 2016
John Stapleton, a serial entrepreneur renowned for co-founding the New Covent Garden Soup Company, shares insights on his entrepreneurial journey. He discusses his strategic decision to sell the soup company and the challenges of launching in the US, including cultural differences and distribution hurdles. John's heartfelt reflections on closing Glencoe Foods reveal valuable lessons learned from failure. He also highlights the birth of Little Dish and the importance of kids' nutrition in a rapidly evolving market.
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Planned Exit From The Start
- John Stapleton and his co-founders always planned to build and then sell their ventures after scaling them for a period.
- They sold New Covent Garden Soup Company in 1998 after about ten years to capture value and hand over international expansion to buyers.
Taking Fresh Soup To California
- John moved to California to replicate his UK fresh-soup concept and built a factory there.
- Despite market research and pilots, the US operation proved much harder than expected and required new processes for longer shelf life.
Taste And Shelf Life Matter Across Borders
- Cultural and taste differences between US coasts and the UK required product changes rather than copy-paste.
- John had to redesign production and extend shelf life to meet American shopping habits and expectations.