Australian plant-based chocolate and food company, Loving Earth, has officially launched a Birchal crowdfunding campaign following a successful expression of interest phase.
The company raised $279,689 in just a few days, with 150 people committing funds.
Loving Earth co-founder and director Scott Fry said the community that supports the company is integral to the brand’s ethos and approach.
“We’ve been community driven since day one, so it only makes sense for us to involve our community in our growth. The indigenous communities we work with play a crucial role in the way we grow, harvest, and create our foods, and similarly, our customers play a crucial role in the kinds of foods we keep creating.
“We have plans to expand our direct-to-consumer offering, and we want our community to benefit in more ways than one,” says Fry.
Fry said the company was aware of the eagerness of environmentally conscious Australians to help accelerate the regenerative farming transition and for more accountability in the food industry, which was one of the reasons it was is welcoming investors from all walks of life to own their slice of the future of ethical food, and to become part owners of their chocolate factory.
Since launching in Australia in 2007 with a range of ‘bean to bar’ plant based chocolate, Loving Earth has grown to become a globally recognised brand, sold in six countries outside of Australia, with nearly 1500 stockists across Australia and New Zealand.
Through the equity raise, Loving Earth said it would develop new products, invest in its direct-to-consumer offering and expand its presence overseas with highly qualified managers across their finance, procurement, product development, and sales departments leading the brand in a direction of rapid growth.
“We’re inviting Australians to help us keep moving the needle in the direction that our planet and people need. If you’re passionate about regenerative agriculture, or honest food, or supporting indigenous farmers, or if you ever dreamed about owning your own chocolate factory, we want you to come on our global expansion journey,” Fry said.
The crowdfunding campaign is now live on Birchal until Thursday 1 December.
Listen to our podcast episode with Scott Fry.
