Shoes of Prey co-founder Michael Fox takes multimillion dollar mushroom business to NYC
His cult fashion startup collapsed. But it hasn’t stopped Qld-based entrepreneur Michael Fox from taking on a new lucrative venture that’s got Heston Blumenthal and Mike Cannon-Brookes’ support.
Companies
Don't miss out on the headlines from Companies. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Exclusive: Michael Fox is no stranger to taking huge leaps of faith - but he also knows how risky a global business empire can be.
The 43-year-old entrepreneur, who was one of the founders of failed Australian start-up darling, Shoes Of Prey, has made a massive comeback with a new lucrative venture.
Instead of sinking millions of investor dollars into bespoke women’s shoes, he has turned the concept of farm-to-table produce on its head by delving into mushrooms.
“I’m vegan and wanted to help other people also reduce their meat consumption but do it in a really natural, healthy, whole food way,” Michael explained.
After spending six months in his wife’s native Denmark, he realised he wanted to look seriously into plant-based meat alternatives.
“I was looking at different ingredients and different ways you could go about doing that,” he said. “Some chefs put me onto the idea of using mushrooms as an ingredient… They’ve got a lot of meaty, umami flavours in them.”
Michael knows what’s at stake, but he and his wife Katrine, 38, are preparing to move with their two children Elliot, 7, and Asta, 5, from the Sunshine Coast to the US once again, after a failed move for Shoes Of Prey in 2015.
This time, they’re moving to grow their reach in exporting shiitake mushroom products so they get onto the plates of diners in some of Australia’s - and the world’s - biggest fast food chains and high-end restaurants.
In early 2019, months after Shoes of Prey collapsed, Michael co-founded his new business venture, Fable Food, with fellow mushroom lovers Jim Fuller and Chris McLoghlin.
Fable Food sources shiitake mushrooms from existing farms globally and uses the stem of the mushroom to create a number of products, such as the very popular pulled mushroom or the meaty slow-braised mushrooms.
These Fable mushroom products are produced in three co-manufacturing partners in Malaysia, before being sent to Australia, the United Kingdom, United States and Singapore where they’re sold.
Moving halfway across the world the first time came with many mistakes Michael openly admits to.
“The biggest thing is deeply understanding the customer. I think the biggest mistake we made in Shoes Of Prey was we didn’t really deeply understand the motivations that women have for buying fashion shoes,” he explained.
Michael and his ex-wife Jodie founded Shoes Of Prey in 2009 with their university friend Mike Knapp, an online business dedicated to creating bespoke women’s shoes designed by the customer.
The Aussie start-up won a number of awards including Online Retailer of the Year and Store Design of the Year at the World Retail Awards in Paris in 2013.
In 2015, Michael and his wife Katrine moved from Sydney to LA, along with 23 team members, to launch Shoes Of Prey into the US market. Yet despite a partnership with US luxury department store Nordstrom and initial promising sales, the business floundered.
Things came to a head in August 2018 when Shoes of Prey suddenly ceased trading, and the company formally went into liquidation in March 2019. Michael called the experience “humbling” as he and Katrine returned to Australia.
“In hindsight, we did more surface level customer research… So at Fable, we’re spending a lot more time and investing a lot more in consumer research and just understanding the customer. I go and talk to customers and really spend time understanding how they think about mushrooms and what motivates them to purchase mushrooms,” he said.
And the passion Michael had for shoes pales in comparison to his love of mushrooms.
“I wouldn’t wake up on a Saturday morning wanting to do Shoes Of Prey, wanting to read fashion magazines or go visit fashion stores. I wasn’t into fashion. Not at that level,” he said.
“Whereas in this space, I love mushrooms. I’m deeply into mushrooms. Deeply into food. I grow my own mushrooms at home, I grow my own food at home. It’s what I live and breathe. That makes it much easier to understand the customer - partly because I’m the customer myself.
“But we’ve also got customer segments as well that aren’t me - actually most of our customers are meat-eaters who just happen to love mushrooms. Even though I’m not that customer segment, I love talking to that customer and understanding their motivations.
“And because I’m more passionate about this space, it makes that much more enjoyable to do.”
Now, five years on from Shoes of Prey’s collapse in 2019, some things have remained the same while others are very different for Michael.
There are a few familiar investor faces behind Fable including Blackbird Ventures and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, who both invested in Shoes Of Prey.
“I’ve been fortunate that we’ve got really good investors who backed my last business, Shoes Of Prey. Now they’ve invested in Fable. Both Blackbird Ventures and Mike Cannon-Brookes family office Grok Ventures - they were big investors in Shoe Of Prey and lost their money,” he said. “That didn’t work out for them but they’ve backed me again in Fable which I’m incredibly appreciative of.”
Since its inception, Fable has quickly gained a foothold in the market.
The multi-million dollar business has partnered with a number of restaurants and supermarkets globally, including Guzman y Gomez, Fishbowl/Thisbowl, The Meat & Wine Co, Zeus Street Greek, Stacked, Marley Spoon and Harris Farm Markets.
A number of Mexican restaurants have taken up Fable’s pulled mushroom product, opening up an opportunity to expand even more.
Their first customer was famed British chef Heston Blumenthal, who has produced a number of recipes for their website using Fable mushrooms.
“The time is right [to make the move to the US],” Michael said.
“We’re really excited. We’re going to see how it goes. We’ve committed to 12 months - we’ve rented out our house here on a 12-month lease. And we’ve just signed a 12-month lease on a place in Brooklyn. We’ll gauge how we’re going as that 12 months comes up. If I had to put money on it, I think we’ll be there at least a few years. We love Australia and the plan is to eventually come back.”
Fable Foods company has no need for an office space, with all employees working remotely - something they are all used to since Fable was founded the year before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The business has staff in Australia, the UK and the US, and Katrine leads the marketing department.
“Quite a few of our Fable team are ex-Shoes Of Prey as well,” Michael said.
“We’re a team of 20, and I think five of us are ex-Shoes Of Prey. So we’ve got some of the same investors and some of the same team, having another go.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Shoes of Prey co-founder Michael Fox takes multimillion dollar mushroom business to NYC
Join the conversation
Australia welcomes ’death tech’ boom
The act of dying is being revolutionised thanks to technology – and Aussie start-ups are a big part of it.
Read more
Aussie suburbs now in the $1m club
Australia’s relentless house price growth has pushed a sweep of new suburbs into the million-dollar value club. Here are the new elite members.
Read more