Low-HFSS cookie company Jnck Bakery has entered liquidation after being delisted by Tesco, its major backer.
Jnck won listings in more than 500 Tesco stores in September 2024 when it was selected for Tesco’s new brand Accelerator Programme – a prize that also included a year of mentoring, learning and development for the brand’s founders, Alex and Sean Brassill.
However, less than a year later, the brand was delisted. Left without its major client, and in the middle of a new raise, the brand had little choice but to close.
“We went from having six products in Tesco to having zero,” said Alex Brassill.
“Tesco was such a high proportion of our revenues, that there wasn’t a viable way forwards without that account.”
Jnck had raised over £800k in its five-year run, including over £250k from a crowdfunding campaign to support the Tesco launch, and a £300k raise at the start of 2023 and £250k from private investors in 2024.
Jnck’s HFSS-compliant cookies contained just 10% of the sugar of standard cookies and 8g of protein per cookie. Multipacks were displayed alongside fresh bakery products, with individually wrapped cookies initially placed in the in-queue snacking aisle.
While the singles “outperformed a lot of other products” in the queue space, the pair were unable to win a permanent meal deal listing.
Part of the brand’s troubles came from trying to break new ground in fresh bakery. Brassill said his team – the brothers and three full-time employees – had difficulty in attracting health-conscious shoppers to a section they now typically avoid.
“Being a first-to-market concept in fresh bakery, as amazing as it was, was also our Achilles’ heel,” Brassill added.
“We didn’t have the marketing budget, and we had one year, rather than five, to make it work. We struggled to do that.”
Despite the business’s failure, the pair still feel positive about their experience in Tesco’s Accelerator Programme.
“There’s no hard feelings with Tesco, and they supported us and promoted the product,” Brassill said.
“We strongly believe that protein and healthier bakery have a massive future in the bakery category.”
The Grocer has contacted Tesco for comment.
No comments yet