COIL Stories
Beck’s Broth:
Local entrepreneur reinvents bone broth into a delicious, healthy treat
With the help of the COIL Evolve Pre-Accelerator program (COIL Evolve), Beck’s Broth has grown their small business from direct to consumer to the shelves of three retailers and a full-time vendor at a local farmers’ market (The Fountainhead Health Store, Dar’s Country Market, Vincenzo’s, and the St. Jacobs Market) in less than 6 months. Since the start of COIL Evolve, Beck’s Broth has seen a 258% increase in sales, established an online presence, and launched a second product.
The Impact
Upcycling at its core: With only three ingredients, beef bones, honey, and cacao, their bone broth hot chocolate is sourced as locally and sustainably as possible. Both the cacao and the honey are organic, and the honey is from a local farm. Additionally, 100% of Beck’s Broth’s beef bones are upcycled from a local farm where they otherwise would have gone to waste.
Closing the loop: Beck’s Broth have made sure that their glass jars are locally sourced to minimize GHGs and offers a container return program. For every jar returned, Beck’s Broth will provide a $0.25 rebate for you next purchase, further encouraging keeping waste out of the system.
How they made it work
Their COIL Evolve mentor has encouraged Beck’s Broth to expand into retailers and to work with a marketing strategist to develop product labels, point-of-sale merchandise, and a new website. With the remaining support from COIL Evolve, Beck’s Broth has upgraded their kitchen space to be able to further expand their production capacity. To keep the momentum going and clients engaged, Beck’s Broth was encouraged to launch a second product: bone broth coffee. Again, partnering with a local roastery, this new product will have the same healthy benefits as the original bone broth hot chocolate while utilizing locally sourced ingredients and diversifying their offerings.
“Instead of trying to do everything on your own, I’ve learned so much more about circularity by going out into my community and seeing [what others do] and from working with Innovation Guelph and the Business Centre Guelph-Wellington.” –Rebecca Prime, Owner/CEO of Beck’s Broth