A pet food company in Durham just scored a spot on the shelves of a major retailer.
Wild Earth's plant-based dog food will now be sold in Petco (Nasdaq: WOOF) stores. If the deal goes as CEO Ryan Bethencourt expects, “We think it could double or triple our revenue.”
Right now, Wild Earth is targeting revenues of $14 million to $16 million this year, he said. But Petco, with around 1,500 stores, will be the firm's largest distributor by far, pumping up the potential earnings.
Bethencourt calls the process of getting to Petco shelves “brutally hard.” The firm was introduced to the retailer through its partner, Mars Petcare, about a year and a half ago.
And this month it finally launched at stores in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Bethencourt said it came down to selling the value proposition. While plant-based pet food consists of a “rounding error” today, he sees it growing to be 10 percent of the entire industry – a message he was able to sell to Petco.
If everything goes well, Wild Earth could expand to all Petco stores in the next two years, Bethencourt said.
He has advice for other entrepreneurs trying to sell their wares to big box chains.
“Be patient,” he said. “Even when things are agreed to verbally, it still takes plenty of time to get approval. … They have refresh cycles and those refresh cycles can take months. … I would definitely advise them to start the conversations early.”
As it waited for the solid “yes,” Wild Earth was scaling. Right now, its products are manufactured in the Midwest, but Bethencourt said the firm is looking at “potential deals” to manufacture in the Triangle, “which we would love to do.”
“We just have to figure out the financing on that front,” he said.
Wild Earth is currently headquartered at American Underground in Durham. Just under half of its 25 employees are located in the Triangle. The plan is to move into a slightly larger headquarters, and the search is underway, he said.
Wild Earth moved its headquarters from California’s Bay Area to Durham in 2021 – a move that coincided with a $23 million fundraise. At the time, Bethencourt said the pandemic was a major driver behind the move, but that the region’s lower-cost of doing business was the differentiator.
Wild Earth is backed by Mark Cuban, who invested in the firm when it appeared on Season 10 of “Shark Tank.” Other supporters include actor Paul Wesley of “Vampire Diaries” fame.
Wild Earth is just one of Bethencourt’s projects. He and his wife, Mariliis Holm, cofounded Sustainable Food Ventures, a micro venture capital fund designed to invest in food startups. Through that firm, Bethencourt sits on the board of Triangle startup Jellatech, which is developing animal-free proteins and announced a $3.5 million raise this week.
Bethencourt also launched a fund targeting crypto and blockchain startups last year.
