(Newswire.net — May 28, 2013) Oak Harbor, WA — By the end of the day anyone across America that types “mealworms” “superworms” or even “mealworms for sale” into a search engine will notice a new presence on the first page of Google, Yahoo and Bing: Mealwormfactory.com.
Superworms and mealworms are roughly a $70 million dollar market domestically and nearly $500 million worldwide. Second only to crickets as a live insect food source for reptiles and amphibians, “mealies” (as they are often reffered to) are an absolutely essential nutritional staple for hundreds of thousands of pet owners. Bearded dragons as an example need to eat between 3 and 15 per day depending on environment and other dietary factors.
Inside the US mealworms and superworms are primarily used as a pet food and even as fishing bait. Overseas they are often used as a protien source that many people truly enjoy. With the stigma that surrounds eating insects here in the US, it is unlikely that the trend of having a nice mealworm and rice curry dish will catch on in a big way any time soon. There are however several restaurants across the US that specialize in such taboo dishes. Bug Apetit in New Orleans, Don Bugito in San Francisco, or Taloache in New York City offer a wide variety of exotic insect dishes. Mealworms in pasta, salads, and even toffee candied as a dessert can be found for those that know where to look.
With a live mailorder product like mealworms and superworms there is literally nothing preventing rapid market penetration. With over 22,000 people searching Google for “mealworms” each and every month, getting the message to them is the key to rapidly gaining a customer base. Posessing a strong marketing background specializing in web presence, the company owner, Dan Smith of Oak Harbor WA, anticipates no problems getting traffic to his new website, Mealwormfactory.com. “If others are willing to pay me $25,000 to just set up a marketing strategy for them, why not be my own best customer and success story?” Said Dan about his decision to take his small business straight to the top of the insect food chain.
“We have been very fortunate to avoid needing any outside funding” he said when asked about financials. “That may change very quickly. I anticipate $200,000 per month in orders within three months and we may consider bringing in some expansion capital under the right terms, and with the right partner, rather than dialing back our marketing once we hit that point.” Other top producers are currently bringing in $2-$6 Million annually and with the marketing ability of the owner, Mealwormfactory.com may top that within their first year.
“With a goal like that in mind, I would need to make the funding decision within the next few weeks. Perhaps something perfect will land in my lap, but I don’t plan on looking for it. Within 6 months we will be able to hit any financial goal the company could set through prudent reinvestment into production capability. The cash from sales will come soon enough to put us at the top, if we do a round of funding at roughly $75,000 it will just allow us to hit the $2 Million per year mark nine to twelve months sooner” was the answer when asked about his goals. “You need to remember that it is 7 months from larva to beetle, to egg, to marketable larva. The only thing holding us back is how many larva and how much climate controlled space we start with. The extra cash from a round of funding would enable us to enjoy a 40% ROI after debt service. Add to that the continued production capability and the year saved, and it would be a wise move.”
Utilizing a “subscription” method of sales to his customers where they order once and then receive their required quantity weekly, bi-weekly or monthly until they end the subscription, volumes should remain steady each week. “We wanted to take the guesswork out of the equation for our customers, and ourselves. We do all of our shipping on Mondays, so they should be showing up the same day of each week. No more ruining a lazy Sunday to rush to the petstore for mealworms or superworms, they just show up like clockwork. Great customer service and the ability to offer competetive pricing based on low overhead will allow us to maximize our marketing advantage and rapidly capitalize on market penetration.”
When asked if he has ever eaten a mealworm, he said no, but offered to sponsor a Hell’s Kitchen mealworm challenge if Chef Gordon Ramsey would join him in judging the dishes. “Grandma was a Culinary Arts Instructor, and I had great success working as a chef. I’d cross that line to meet Ramsey, but that’s about it.” He does however intend on offering a specialy raised restaraunt quality selection for certain clients that are into serving mealworms and superworms.
Orders may be made at mealwormfactory.com and Dan Smith may be reached for questions about mealworms or marketing at dan@wellpaidstayathomedad.com