Boom times for trendy $10m Brisbane kitchen gadget firm Dreamfarm
A young entrepreneur who started his trendy kitchen gadget business in a backyard shed has just notched up annual sales of $10m. See TOP 10 best seller list.
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It took plenty of creativity to get through the coronavirus pandemic but for innovative kitchen tools and gadgets design company Dreamfarm, thinking outside the box has been a consistent company mantra.
Dreamfarm founder and managing director Alexander Gransbury said they were “lucky” being in Australian selling kitchen products which helped them survive the lockdown last year.
However, for the multi-award-winning Brisbane-based company which produced its first product, a coffee grind knockbox Grindenstein in 2003, its success was more by design than luck having made the right strategic decisions at the right time.
“We had arguably our worst month of the last three to four years in March last year when we made 22 per cent to expected revenue, and in April we were sitting on about 45 per cent expected revenue,” Mr Gransbury, 39, said.
“But from May onwards in Australia and in US we were back on track and hitting budget.
“We ended 60 odd per cent up for the year in Australia and 30 per cent up in the US.”
Based in Albion, Dreamfarm exceeded $10m in turnover last year in Australia and the US where it has an office and distribution network.
Mr Gransbury said with the products manufactured in China the pandemic created labour and material supply problems and a potential backlog of orders.
“For us as a company the only way to pay the bills is to sell the goods we make. If you cancelled orders you were screwed,” he said.
“We held plenty of stock and knowing there were rolling delays, we rang our manufacturers and asked how much can you increase orders and it not be considered a new order?”
While transport difficulties created severe problems in other markets outside Australia and the US, the company still managed to increase its number of employees to 24, from 18 at the beginning of last year. It added two staff to its design team.
“Most people in coronavirus lockdown went into their shells but we doubled down again,” he said.
“We needed new products and will hopefully capitalise on the fact we have new products when everyone else is still selling the same old stuff.”
Dreamfarm was started by then 22-year-old entrepreneur in a backyard shed of his then Canberra home with the idea to make “useful products that made sense”.
The company, which moved to Brisbane in 2008, has created almost 40 products which have been sold either online or through stores ranging from Myers and Bloomingdales to pop up stores and small neighbourhood outlets.
Grindenstein remains one of its most popular products having doubled its sales last year. Other products such as Garject self-cleaning garlic press and its multi award-winning one handed or two handed pepper grinder Ortwo remain in high demand.
Importantly, Dreamfarm displays its products online with Ortwo and other products becoming viral sensations.
The company continues to innovate and last year released five new products during the COVID year with Orlid, a stackable spice jar with a double lid that opens to shake or scoop, winning a Good Design Award and Dreamfarm’s sixth coveted Red Dot award, while its Spina — a colander that turns into an in-sink salad spinner — also won a Good Design Award.
This week the two products also each picked up an iF Award.
Mr Gransbury said 2021 was on track to be a strong year.
“We are the lucky ones. There are so many people doing it tough. It was a great advantage for us to have products to sell to people with disposable income but had to stay at home,” he said.
“We are going to launch more products in the next 12 months than we have ever launched in any 12-month period having doubled our design team so we’re heading for a great year.”
TOP 1O BEST SELLERS
1. Set of the Best: collection of best and most loved kitchen tools ($79.95)
2. Clongs: Click-lock tongs that sit up off your bench ($24.95)
3. Fledge: Double-sided cutting board ($19.95)
4. Garject: Garlic press ($59.95)
5. Ortwo: Pepper mill ($54.95)
6. Spina: Spin and strain colander ($34.95)
7. Orlid: Shake or scoop lid (14.95)
8. Grindenstein: Compact coffee knock box ($39.95)
9. Mini Supoon: Sit up scraping spoon ($9.95)
10. Supoon: Sit up scraping spoon ($14.95)
Source: dreamfarm.com
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