嬰兒食品公司成長記
????作為養生迷和美食家,36歲的沙茲?維斯蘭曾一度對經過加工的嬰兒和兒童食品心存抵觸。事實上,由于這類食品通常質量不佳,家長們把它喂給自己的孩子時都有點內疚。 ????但大多數家長時間緊迫,除了玻璃罐裝糊狀食品,他們沒有別的選擇。因此,從紐約哥倫比亞大學(Columbia University)商學院畢業后,維斯蘭便制定了商業計劃,于2006年的母親節創辦了一家兒童食品公司。維斯蘭把公司命名為幸福兒童(Happy Baby)。該公司銷售營養豐富的袋裝有機嬰兒和兒童食品,而不是玻璃罐裝食品。 ????自創辦以來,維斯蘭的公司發展迅猛,現在已更名為幸福家庭公司(Happy Family)。2011年,幸福家庭公司的收入達到3,400萬美元,而2012年,其收入幾乎翻了一倍,達到6,000萬美元。 ????事實上,幸福家庭公司的業績非常優秀,以至于引起了法國跨國食品巨頭達能集團(Danone)的關注。達能集團于今年的母親節宣布,已同意以一個絕無僅有的價格收購幸福家庭公司。 ????中心城區企業100強( Inner City 100 list)是對美國城市中心區增長速度最快企業進行排名的榜單。今年,幸福家庭公司名列該榜單首位。 ????其實,這并不是維斯蘭首次因其獨創性而入選。2011年,維斯蘭在美國運通公司(American Express)的比賽中獲勝,并在一個商業廣告中作為小企業代表出現。維斯蘭指出,這種宣傳非常有益,此后她仍與美國運通公司保持合作關系。2011年,維斯蘭還榮獲了紐約區安永年度企業家獎(Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year)稱號。2012年,維斯蘭入選美國科倫(Crain)傳播公司的紐約40位40歲以下商業精英("40 Under 40")榜單。今年3月,維斯蘭榮獲世界經濟論壇2013年度全球青年領袖(Young Global Leader)稱號。 ????接受《財富》雜志采訪的時候,她本來正在巴哈馬度假,本想呼吸呼吸新鮮空氣,結果未能如愿。在提到達能收購案時,她說,“我沒想到上個周末就能簽訂協議。壓力突然增加了,他們真的很希望周一上午(巴黎時間)發布這一消息。當得知這一情況時,我卻身在酒店房間。我已經48小時沒合眼了。” ????即使現在,維斯蘭仍然說她很是緊張。她說,大規模的收購案通常會令小公司感到害怕,“我真的不希望出現任何負面消息。他們想讓我繼續主持公司事務,他們喜歡我們的精神,沒有打算對管理層做出任何改變。” ????雖然達能集團在美國銷售碧悠(Activia)酸奶和依云(Evian)礦泉水,但是在嬰兒營養食品市場的占有率非常有限。維斯蘭認為,幸福家庭公司能夠幫助達能改變這一局面。畢竟,幸福家庭公司在美國的嬰兒食品市場占有4%的市場份額。 |
????As a health nut and foodie, 36-year-old Shazi Visram had a problem with processed baby food. Namely, it was gross, and people felt bad about feeding it to their kids. ????But most parents are pressed for time and don't have alternatives to mushed meals in glass jars. So, after attending business school at Columbia University in New York, Visram drafted a business plan and ultimately launched her own baby food company on Mother's Day in 2006. She called the company Happy Baby, and it sold organic, nutrient-enhanced baby food in pouches, not glass. ????Now called Happy Family, Visram's company has grown remarkably since its birth. In 2011, it pulled in $34 million worth of revenue and nearly doubled that by 2012, earning about $60 million. ????Happy Family has performed so well, in fact, that it caught the eye of France-based multinational food giant Danone. On Mother's Day this year, Danone announced that it had agreed to purchase Happy Family for an amount that neither company would disclose. ????This year, Happy Family also made the No. 1 spot on the annual Inner City 100 list, a ranking of the fastest-growing businesses in urban America. ????This is far from the first time Visram has been singled out for her ingenuity. In 2011, she won an American Express competition to represent small businesses in a commercial. The exposure was extremely helpful, Visram has said, and she continued to work with American Express after the initial spot. Also in 2011, Visram won Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year for New York. And she earned a spot on Crain's New York's "40 Under 40" list in 2012. Earlier this March, the World Economic Forum selected her to be a member of the Young Global Leader class of 2013. ????She was trying to catch a breath of fresh air when she spoke with Fortune from her vacation in the Bahamas, without much luck. "I didn't expect it to culminate in signing this past weekend," she said of the Danone deal. "All of a sudden, the pressure was on, and they really wanted to put a release on the wire Monday morning, Paris time. I found myself in the hotel room when we got here and I didn't sleep for 48 hours." ????Still, Visram says she's pumped. "I don't really anticipate anything that could be negative about it," she says, and while big acquisitions can spook small companies, "they want me to continue to run the show, they love our spirit and they are not proposing any management changes." ????Though Danone sells yogurt brand Activia and Evian water in the United States, it doesn't have a huge presence in the infant nutrition market here. Visram thinks her company can help change that. Already, Happy Family has 4% market share of the U.S. baby food industry. |