Tooru PLC (LSE:RGO) CEO, Scott Livingston, talked with Proactive about the company's strategy for growth through its portfolio of health and wellness consumer brands.
Livingston began by outlining the core brands under Tooru, including Juvela, a gluten-free range sold via prescription; OAF, its mass-market gluten-free line launched in Tesco; Pulsin, a long-established protein bar and supplement brand; and Purely, a plantain crisps label. The company also operates Market Rocket, a tech division supporting direct-to-consumer growth.
“We think that we can grow these existing brands dramatically,” Livingston said, citing strong demand for clean-label, functional foods. He also noted the strength of OAF’s launch and its traction with retailers and consumers.
Livingston confirmed Tooru is EBITDA positive at the operating company level and is seeing the effects of investments made into product development and brand turnaround. The company is prioritising organic growth, but remains open to strategic acquisitions that align with existing operations or offer synergy on the production side.
Tooru is positioning itself within a growing health and wellness sector, with Livingston stating, “Even low-income area teenagers would read what's on the back of a product,” reflecting a wider consumer shift towards transparency and healthier choices.
Proactive: Scott, very good to speak to you. To start with, could you give us an overview of Tooru and the businesses that make up the group today?
Scott Livingston: So Tooru —we basically own a number of challenger brands, subsidiaries in the consumer health and wellness space that we are growing and trying to build. We have a company called Juvela, which is based in Wales. We make gluten-free products for the celiac community. It's a prescription product sold through the pharmacy channel. A great business.
What we did with that brand is we launched a new mass market, gluten-free product called OAF. This brand has a number of products under it—pizza bases, sub rolls, sourdough breads, etc. We've done exceptionally well. We launched in Tesco. We're talking very seriously now with other retailers. We've got great traction with social media. It tastes good. We've done a lot of research on how the product should look and taste, and we think we've done a really good job. It's very exciting to go into what is quite a fragmented market.
We also own a brand called Pulsin, which is a protein bar and fibre bar business and nutritional supplements. We spent some time turning that around. It hasn't been without its challenges, but it's a 25-year-old brand, very well known with a sophisticated set of ingredients. We expect to be expanding this brand into a massive market. It's a multi-billion dollar market—the snacking bar industry in the UK, Europe, and the world. We have a lot of new innovative ideas. We want to grow the existing products.
Then we have another brand called Purely, which is a plantain crisps business. It's very small, but we're working towards building that into a better-known brand. And we have a tech division called Market Rocket, which we've grown the revenue substantially since acquiring. That was a nice complement to a lot of our DTC and consumer brands.
Proactive: Looking at your market positioning, are you looking at other brands like those as you continue to grow?
Scott Livingston: Yes. We don't want to overcomplicate matters. We're alert to acquisition opportunities, but it would need to be quite strategic—maybe sharing ingredients, using the same factory, increasing margins, etc. There's a lot of distress out there, a lot of opportunity. But we want to keep our projects uncluttered. We are looking at acquisitions.
Proactive: Looking at your most recent financials, Scott, you achieved positive EBITDA and invested in new product lines. How did these investments set Tooru up for growth?
Scott Livingston: So yeah, we are EBITDA positive at the operating companies. It's been a challenge. The environment in the UK over the last few years has been extremely difficult. We believe we're turning a corner and coming back slowly to an even keel. We think we can grow these existing brands dramatically. We're in sectors with a lot of headroom. Health and wellness and reading ingredients is becoming more of a shift than a trend—even low income area teenagers would read what's on the back of a product. They'll read the ingredients. So we think we're in a sector set for massive growth and hungry for innovation.
Proactive: Where do you see the biggest opportunity, Scott? And would you be looking for organic growth versus acquisitive growth?
Scott Livingston: Our main focus is on organic growth. With the brands that we've launched such as OAF, we think we can get massive success over the short term by growing what we've got. We also have a number of brands we could acquire and grow faster. It comes down to working capital availability. We'd look to fund that in the future if there were real opportunistic acquisitions.
Proactive: And what would you say is the differentiator for Tooru in the market? What sets you apart from your peers?
Scott Livingston: We're focusing on products that are less full of chemical nasties, which is quite common in a lot of products. We're streamlining and focusing purely on health and wellness. So really it's an opportunity to invest in a category that is growing, that is quite specific—trying to remove various ingredients from products, focusing on the functional benefits of snacking, and riding a wave of people wanting to eat better and focus on what's going into their body.
Proactive: Scott, I hope you'll continue to keep us updated with your progress. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.