SME case study

WHEN Andrew Johnson decided to investigate the concept of a living salad he could retail the obvious place to start was a garden shed.

Shrouded by secrecy, which he openly admits could have easily given rise to murmurings about marijuana production, Johnson cultivated what was to prove an award winning idea.

Thanks to the Hull-based entrepreneur's patience and experimentation, us consumers now have an alternative to the less environmentally friendly and chlorine rinsed bagged salad.

The living salad trays, which offer a combination of tasty leaves such as red chard, tatsoi, red mustard, rocket, and pak choi, not only give a better taste and texture thanks to the innovative concept, but retain all their nutritional value unlike pre-cut salad, which can take nearly two weeks to reach our plates.

But if it hadn't been for Johnson being made redundant from his job at bagged salad giant Vitacress forcing his young family to leave the sunny shores of Portugal, Living Salads might never have happened.

“I had a sort of eureka moment – the sort that comes out of quite desperation,” he confesses.

“The redundancy pushed an idea I had at the back of my mind to the front. We'd been eating wild rocket straight out of the fields while living in Portugal, and the difference in taste was significant.

“It wasn't until we returned to England for a dinner party that I realised the difference in quality between just picked leaves and bagged salads. Some friends had proudly presented me with some bagged rocket from Portugal and I was embarrassed at the quality. It simply didn't taste very fresh.”

And so the idea for a salad growing in its tray until the moment the consumer wants to eat it was born. However, it was meeting with Marks & Spencer's head office that confirmed Johnson was onto a winner.

“I had only got as far as the tube on my way home before they rang and offered me an exclusive contract to develop the idea,” he recalls.

But although money was being invested no progress was being made with the retailer on getting the product to the shelf. So reluctant to hang on, Johnson approached rival Waitrose.

Once again, the supermarket buyers liked the product, but this time it was difficulties over shelf space that signaled unreasonable delays. So Johnson took his idea to Sainsbury's, which immediately embraced the idea.

“I rang the leafy salads buyer at Sainsbury's and left him a message. Within 20 minutes he was on the phone, a meeting was set, and we struck a deal. It was very straightforward,” says Johnson, who only has positive comments about his dealings with the major retailer.

“We set what we both considered was a fair price and that was that. I couldn't ask for any more than I've had out of my dealings with Sainsbury's.”

The company, which started trading in 2005 with £20,000 investment, recorded a £275,000 turnover for year one and a £500,000 turnover for the following year. Projected turnover brings the green-fingered firm just short of a million. Employee numbers vary from eight to 20.

For Johnson the whole experience has been a positive one. Not only are his living “pick-your-own” salads being stocked by one major retailer – they are also available in Asda, Booths, Co-op, Morrisons, Tesco – and Waitrose.

“The bagged salad market is huge – around £400m to 500m annually. I used to have dreams of taking 75% of this in a very short time, but I'm more realistic now – it's very tough competing for shelf space and visibility in store. Still, even 5% of a £500m market would be nice.”