My Foodie Box Ltd (ASX:MBX) has rung in the new year as a public company, with the meal kit creator hitting the boards under the ticker ‘MBX’.
The West Aussie consumer stock is one of the first floats of 2022 and officially took its food technology and logistics offering public on Friday at 2:30 pm AEDT.
Ahead of its listing, My Foodie Box completed an oversubscribed $6 million IPO in December, with 30 million shares issued to investors at $0.20 apiece.
The funding runway will help bolster MBX’s marketing and development angle for its technology platform, where a new app is in the works to accelerate the company’s growth and eCommerce visions.
Investors worked up an appetite for the meal kit stock on Friday, taking the newly minted shares 27.5% higher to $0.255 each just after the company’s public debut.
WA a blueprint for future expansion
Speaking to My Foodie Box’s listing in the company’s prospectus, executive chairman Bryan Hughes said MBX was now ready to continue its journey as a publicly listed company.
“With consumer patterns moving towards a preference for online food delivery and food/groceries being a non-discretionary spend (and the second-largest household expenditure item behind rent/mortgage repayments), we believe we are well placed to continue this growth,” he stated.
“Our experience and success in Western Australia has given us the blueprint for expanding into other Australian cities.
“Our existing customer base and the data captured by our sophisticated technology platform have enabled us to develop a targeted marketing and product development strategy …
“… [It] provides the platform for us to expand our product offering and enable us to develop into a broader e-commerce business.
“We are at a very exciting point in time where technology is significantly changing consumer behaviour.”
Appetite for a growing market
My Foodie Box is one of the newest additions to Australia’s relatively insulated meal kit industry.
There are currently four major players in the market — the ASX-listed Marley Spoon Ltd, its spinoff Dinnerly, pioneer service HelloFresh and relative newcomer EveryPlate.
Each of these providers landed in Australia less than a decade ago, meaning this is an industry still in its infancy.
Young as the Aussie meal kit market might be, it’s quickly gaining ground with consumers.
According to MarketResearch.com, the Australian meal kit market recorded a positive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.71% between 2014 and 2019, reaching a sales value of A$197.28 million that year.
Current operations
My Foodie Box will celebrate three years in business this month and executives still see a lot of room for growth.
The business commenced full trading operations in January 2019 with 35 subscribers and in under three years, its active subscriber base has grown to around 1,650.
MBX currently generates around $105,000 in revenue per week and has delivered more than 200,000 meals to West Aussies since its incorporation.
Speaking to what makes My Foodie Box different, Hughes stated: “We started MBX because we saw the need for a locally owned and operated entrant into the market, and we love the way in which meal kits solve the everyday question of ‘what are we having for dinner?’.
“We provide a unique way for families to spend more time together, and at the same time inspire and educate children on the importance of healthy eating.
“We pride ourselves on our focus on provenance and operating a sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially responsible business model, which includes providing pre-portioned ingredients to limit food waste, and using compostable, recyclable and reusable packaging.”
Future plans
Looking ahead, My Foodie Box plans to expand its service and offering into a broader eCommerce platform.
It’s also set its sights beyond Western Australia, with a vision to hit other states with the meal kit offering.
Finally, MBX is also on the lookout for any acquisition opportunities that stand to further grow its business.