REAL LIFE EXPORTER A crop pick of the
Life is a bowl of cherries for a London company striking out in world markets, writes Janet Tibble
Russian cherry orchard inspired playwright Anton Chekhov. For businessman John Heseltine, it was the
cherry orchards of Michigan that provided inspiration for something which is attracting increasing global attention. While studying at Harvard, he spent time holidaying in America’s ‘cherry belt’ and, as well as appreciating the beauty of the blossom, he realised that the cherry’s health benefi ts could also be commercially compelling. Cherry juice is said to help relieve the pain of arthritis and gout and to aid muscle recovery. It is claimed that it can help prevent cancer, heart disease and stroke and slow the ageing process. Tapping into the trend for healthy eating, managing director Heseltine and marketing director Martin Hall launched Cherrygood in 2009 and are now exporting juice throughout Europe, the Middle East and the US. Based on an outsourcing model, and with just three permanent employees, the tiny company is truly international. Recipe and new product development is carried out in partnership with Cobell, a company based in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. The Montmorency cherries are imported from the US, processing takes place in the Netherlands and sales, marketing and packing are done in the UK.
Cherrygood is sold in all of the major UK supermarket chains, with sales increasing month on month. The company, however, needed fi nance to be able to expand in the home market and fulfi l its overseas
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ambitions. “Seeking fi nance can be a time-consuming distraction from building the business,” says Heseltine. “You get a lot of knockbacks, which is incredibly different from when I started my fi rst business in 2003 when banks were falling over themselves to lend money.” After almost a year, Heseltine secured £600k from Clydesdale Bank under its Investing for Growth programme. The scheme is part of the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) which facilitates lending to viable SMEs that lack the security to secure a conventional commercial loan. It has used the money to expand internationally, as well as strengthening its UK business. “We are launching four new products in the UK this year, continues Heseltine, “which takes a lot of money for production, promotion and marketing. Entering foreign markets is even more expensive.”
Cherrygood has signed distribution deals in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Greece, Malta, Portugal and the UAE. “We have opted for the distributor route because it’s easier to use well-trodden routes to start with,” explains Heseltine. “We were actually approached by distributors in the Middle East, which is a health-driven market that has major potential for us. Experience has shown that it is important to look at each market individually, researching drinking habits and nutritional issues. Our distribution partners have done some of this research, but we also visited the markets to set up focus groups and draw on market information from specialist companies.
“We think export will be between 20-50 per cent of the business next year. New data shows a drive to healthy products in India and China, markets offering huge opportunities, but we will need the fi nancial clout to fi nd the right partners to enter those markets.” Cherrygood met with UK Trade & Investment international trade adviser Peter Warren, who provided research on the European juice market. “UK Trade & Investment has also partially supported two overseas fact-fi nding trips that have helped the export drive,” says marketing director Martin Hall. Trade shows have played an important part in Cherrygood’s growth, particularly ANUGA, the food and drink exhibition held biennially in Cologne. Before setting up Cherrygood, Heseltine established Lovejuice, a juice bar chain with 24 UK outlets in airports and shopping centres. He sold the business for £3.4m, enabling him to move on to the next venture. As a drinks industry and marketing expert, Hall initially approached Heseltine to do work for Lovejuice. He didn’t get that job, but the pair got on famously and eventually set up Cherrygood together. Turnover currently stands at £1.2m and the partners aim to increase that to £100m over the next 10 years. “I know it’s a long way between here and there, but we are driven on by the fact that Ocean Spray’s cranberry juice is a billion dollar business based on a single fruit,” says Heseltine. “Cherries are more popular and easily understood – so if cranberries can do so well, we think we should be able to achieve £100m.” ■
PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK JOHNSSON
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