With populations in lockdown and families desperate to minimise their physical contact with the outside world, meal kit delivery service Marley Spoon (ASX: MMM) has been one of the beneficiaries from changes in consumer behaviour with plans to triple production in order to meet growing demand around the world.
At the beginning of 2020 and prior to the onset of the global pandemic, MMM shares had been trading around 40c each but have since reached as high as $3.50 in August with shareholders emerging as big winners from the meal delivery boom.
Although pandemic behaviour will change once a vaccine is released for global distribution, Marley Spoon anticipates families will retain their meal kit delivery services ad they prepare to bring new manufacturing facilities online in 2021.
“2020 was a historic year that impacted all our lives. The team at Marley Spoon did a tremendous job in coping with disruptive change that was often coupled with difficult personal situations,” said Marley Spoon CEO, Fabian Siegel.
“With a stronger team than ever, we are well placed to execute on our clear infrastructure investment roadmap and take advantage of the growth opportunities presented to us.”
In preparation for further expected demand for their meal kits, Marley Spoon will be taking possession of a custom-built manufacturing facility that will triple their Sydney manufacturing capacity and recently took over another manufacturing centre in Perth.
Further upgrades will also take place in their California facility which will triple its capacity, whilst plans are in motion to launch computer-aided manufacturing tech in Europe and the US that will increase productivity and picking quality.
In order to fulfil the potential of all these new manufacturing facilities in 2021, Marley Spoon has further invested in their marketing and digital teams which will see the Company double their headcount in these areas globally to 100 full time employees.
For the Quarter ending 30 September 2020, Marley Spoon reported revenues of €69.3 million which represented a 109% increase on the previous corresponding period from the 362,000 global customers, enabling Marley Spoon to generate €6.7m positive cashflow for the CY year-to-date.
Since raising $56m from institutional investors in October 2020, the Company has retired a substantial amount of debt in preparation for the 2021 growth plans.
Alfred Chan is a Business Reporter at The Sentiment specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies, a bloodstock enthusiast and former equities analyst.
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