Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd t/a Happy Cow Milk Co.

By Glen Herud

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Food,



NZ $400,000 pledged


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NZ$300,000

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NZ$400,000

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This campaign hit its maximum target on 21/11/2019 at 8:08 PM and is now closed.

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About

Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd t/a Happy Cow Milk Co.

Kinder, greener, fairer dairy

Followers of Happy Cow Moovement all want the same thing. We all want a positive and real change in the way dairy is done. We exist to actually make that change, not just look like we’re making the change.

At Happy Cow Milk, we’re adding kindness, caring & fairness to every litre of milk. 

Kia ora from our Founder, Glen

The hard thing about doing hard things is that it’s always harder than we think. The hardest thing for me has been knowing if my vision for kinder, greener, fairer dairy was too hard and therefore unachievable. Or was it hard, but within reach?

During the Happy Cow journey, our crowd of fans and customers have helped me keep going through years of hard work, and uncertainty. Every week people contact me and tell me how much they love what we were doing at Happy Cow Milk Co. That kept me going.  

Two things came through again and again — leaving calves with their mothers and reusable packaging. Ultimately, it was those two things that contributed to the demise of my first attempt to do dairy better with Happy Cow Milk 1.0. We supplied milk in re-usable glass bottles, but they were time consuming and costly to wash and fill. Our bottle return system was too cumbersome for many retailers. And when I needed to increase the supply of milk we couldn’t find a single farmer willing to adopt our cow and calf policy. 

Some have said that’s proof those things can’t be done. I see them as hard things that we just haven‘t solved yet. When I eventually had to admit defeat and closed the business, it was again the crowd and my customers who provided encouragement and support. Boy, did they provide the support. Our selfless Patreon supporters have allowed us to keep the lights on and continue to work on solving the hard things about dairy. We’ll explain in our Information Memorandum below how we plan to do that. 

The thing I’m most proud of is how our new dairy system will allow anyone - even those with limited resources - to be part of our solution. Happy Cow Milk is built around a core value that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Anyone with 50 cows can be a Happy Cow farmer. 

Anyone can be a retailer. And now, anyone can be an investor. With as little as $100, you become part of our moovement for kinder, greener fairer dairy. It may be a hard thing. But we can do it together. This is the first step. 

Glen Herud 

Our offer to you

We are offering up to 400,000 shares at $1 each. The minimum subscription required under this offer is 300,000 shares.

This investment is in Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd trading as Happy Cow Milk Co. 

Start date: 21 November 2019
End date: 16 December 2019

 

Why we exist 

Kinder dairy

A kinder dairy simply means the cows are treated really well and allowed to live as cows naturally would. That means a mother cow feeds and cares for her calf. It means we don’t push our cows too hard to maximise production.

Greener dairy

A greener dairy means cows shouldn’t pollute our waterways or the environment. Greener dairy means diverse pasture species, it means cows integrated with crops and trees. It means biodiversity of plants, animals, birds, insects and microorganisms. Greener dairy also means no plastic. It means we use the packaging again and again.

Fairer dairy

A fairer dairy is about how cows are treated but it also means that farmers who are doing the right thing are rewarded. It means that farmers shouldn’t have to be big just to be profitable.

The problem 

The reason we don’t have a kinder, greener, fairer dairy already is because, from our experience, the people who control the industry don’t want to change.

• We believe the dairy industry in New Zealand and around the world is controlled by entrenched attitudes within big dairy, corporate milk processors and the big retail chains.

• They decide how our cows are farmed and how milk is produced. They choose how our milk is processed and packaged into single-use plastic and they choose to not pay the farmers enough.

• To get kinder, greener, fairer dairy, we want to bypass the industry power brokers and the gatekeepers.

At Happy Cow Milk, we’re planning to disrupt dairy. The same way the music, transport and accommodation industries have been disrupted - by connecting producers directly to consumers.

 

Our solution: Simplify, simplify, simplify!

Bypassing the middle-man. We had to rethink and redesign how we pasteurise milk at the farm, we had to rethink how milk was sold and who sold it and we had to re-think how milk was delivered to.

 

The milk factory in a box

Provisional patents have been filed on this revolutionary piece of technology that we hope will transform the dairy industry in New Zealand and around the world. 

Milk goes in at the farm and is pasteurised and then cooled inside. The whole unit is transported to the cafe or community-based retail outlet, where it becomes a dispensing unit. This closed system ensures food safety and reduces the high cost of compliance that other processing systems face. 

Each unit is connected to a smart network that monitors temperature and keeps track of the milk as it’s used. The Happy Cow system notifies farmers when a retailer needs a full unit delivered. 

The provisional patents have been filed and the regular, non-provisional patent will be filed by March 2020 with a view to international patents in the future.

 

Happy Cow Milk connects local farmers to resellers and consumers who want milk produced in an ethical and responsible manner.

• We will do this by providing the tools needed by each of the participants.

• We aim to provide farmers with the efficient milk processing hardware and software combination, which enables them to meet the regulatory requirements to pasteurise milk. 

• We plan to provide resellers with the dispenser equipment that enable them to sell milk. 

• We aim to connect consumers to the resellers using the power of our passionate crowd.

• We will provide the payment system that enables all the parties to get paid in real-time. 

Happy Cow 2.0 will make its money by taking a portion of each litre of milk sold. We don’t plan to make money from selling the hardware or software. The hardware will be sold to the farmers at cost price.

Our goal is to put the hardware in the hands of as many people as possible so they can produce and sell Happy Cow Milk.

For Happy Cow Milk to grow we need to replicate our core transaction again and again - 1 farmer with 50 cows producing 1,000 litres of milk per day. We’ll pay $1.20/ litre. Fonterra only pays $0.55/litre.

 

Market opportunity

Domestic 

In New Zealand approximately 427 million litres of fresh liquid milk is sold every year, with the average New Zealander consuming 90 litres of milk per year. 

Happy Cow is positioning itself as a brand that has the ability to scale nationally with zero packaging. We plan to have higher animal welfare than any other milk brand on the market*. All this while keeping milk affordable at $2.50 per litre.

We think it‘s achievable for Happy Cow Milk Co to capture 5% of the New Zealand fresh milk market. This equates to a total retail value of $53.4 million dollars per year.

• This would require 2,928 cows or 59 farmers with 50 cows each.

• We would need to replicate our core transaction 59 times across New Zealand.

• This equates to a total retail value of $53.4 million per year and $8.5 million in revenue for Happy Cow Milk. 

*Refer to our animal welfare guidelines at www.happycowmilk.co.nz/happy-cow-way

International

The real potential for growth is the international market. Once we’ve proven our model can scale in New Zealand, we will aim to be able to adapt our system to international markets. 

• We will aim to grow by replicating our core transaction in cities around the world.

• Happy Cow 2.0 is designed to scale anywhere in the world - one farmer at a time.

We will continue to leverage the power of our crowd as we move to international markets. We’ll begin by researching the greatest export opportunities in mid 2020 when we hope to have the New Zealand model functioning well. We’ll look at entering the Australian market next because it has the same regulatory environment as New Zealand

Growth strategy

Happy Cow Milk is a platform with farmers on one side of the platform and consumers on the other. Both sides have strong incentives to join the Happy Cow Milk platform.

Our growth and market potential will depend on how many times we can replicate our core transaction. 

The key to growth is to be able to attract farmers, resellers & consumers to the platform and make it easy for them to sign up and participate. The Happy Cow Milk marketing team will focus on attracting all three participants in our target regions and facilitate the matchmaking process. We aim to make the on-boarding of new participants a frictionless process. 

The hardware, software and user interfaces are designed to ensure that each participant can start processing milk, retailing milk or purchasing milk in quick easy steps. 

The best way Happy Cow Milk can attract participants is to ensure all members receive outstanding benefits from being part of the network. 

Meet the team

Meet our advisors

We’re fortunate to have worked with industry experts and advisors across the country. These people are giving their time and expertise to make Happy Cow Milk succeed. Following the capital raise we intend to form a formal board.

 

Why we're Crowdfunding

Happy Cow Milk exists today because of our crowd - people who refused to give up on the idea of kinder, greener, fairer dairy. People like you who were willing to invest in a belief that there had to be a better way.

This is why we wanted to give the first option to invest to the people who’ve supported and believed in this idea from the beginning. We’ve got big plans for transforming dairy from the inside out and we can’t do it alone.

Together, we’re transforming a business into a mooovement!

Share offer

We are offering up to 400,000 shares at $1 each. The minimum subscription required under this offer is 300,000 shares.

Investors who subscribe for 10,000 shares or more will receive ordinary shares which have the same rights in all respects as existing ordinary shares in Happy Cow Milk. Investors who subscribe for less than 10,000 shares will receive non-voting shares.

Non-voting shares do not give the holder the right to vote at meetings of shareholders. In very limited circumstances (to ensure the shareholder’s core rights are protected) each non-voting share gives the holder the right to one vote.

This only occurs where there is a proposal or resolution which affects the rights attaching to the non-voting shares.

Both ordinary shares and non-voting shares issued under this offer will give the holders:

• The right to an equal share in dividends and other distributions made by Happy Herd Limited (subject to the rights of any other class of share)

• The right to an equal share in the distribution of surplus assets of Happy Herd Milk Company Limited.

The ordinary shares are voting shares and have full voting rights attached.  

What we’ll do with the money

We’re raising money to build the prototype and test the model in the real world. This aims to prove the business model works and prove the technology works. From there, we’ll be in a position to start scaling up by adding more farms and retailers to the network.

We will spend the 1st quarter of 2020 getting the first milk factory in a box built and tested. The system will then be inspected by MPI for accreditation.

Farm Trial 

Revenue is based on starting with a single farm trial in April 2020, supplying 750 litres per day to the Auckland market by May 2020. 

During the farm trial, Happy Cow Milk will be operating the milk processing unit and will be conducting all deliveries. Happy Cow Milk will purchase raw milk from the trial farmer at the same rate as their current milk processors payout. 

During the trial Happy Cow Milk will receive $1.70/litre of milk sold and Happy Cow Milk will pay all processing & deliver costs.  At the completion of the trial, the trial farmer will take over the operation of the test unit & undertake all the deliveries & processing duties.

At this point Happy Cow Milk will receive our usual commission of $0.40/litre. For this reason, our income decreases as we transition from the trial to 100% commision income.

Following a successful trial we will grow by adding additional farmers near major New Zealand population centres from July 2020. 

Additional Capital Raise 

All financials assume another capital raise of $500,000 will take place at the completion of a successful trial. These funds will enable us to expand into international markets.

Risks & how we'll address them

What if people don’t buy enough milk?

We’re launching the trial in Auckland where there is the largest population base and we only need to sell 750 litres for the trial to break even. We’ll scale around the country, using farmers who are close to large enough population centres to make this work.

What if the technology doesn’t work?

We’ve spent the last year building and testing a basic, working version of the technology. This capital raise will pay professional electrical engineers and software developers to take what we already have and make it robust and secure. We feel confident that it will work and that any problems will be solvable.

What if we can’t get MPI approval?

It isn’t possible to get sign-off from The Ministry for Primary Industries until we’ve built the final prototype, but we’ve prepared for this by designing the prototype with a food safety consultant and we have presented our plans to MPI approved dairy assessors who have indicated that our system will comply. We won’t have confirmation until the final equipment is assessed.

What if we can’t get farmers on board?

We’ve already got 130 farmers across the country who have signed up to our email updates and seven who have expressed their interest in joining Happy Cow Milk. We expect the trial to show profits for farmers that will be a large incentive to getting more people on board.

What about trademark infringement?

There is another brand in the dairy category which has “Happy Cow” in their name, of which they have trademarked. For this reason it is unlikely we will be able to trademark the "Happy Cow Milk Company“ name. We do have a trademark for our logo though. The official name of our entity is Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd. In early 2020 we will decide on a new name that stays with the “happy” theme and relates to our smily face logo.

What if someone else copies our idea?

We’ve taken steps to protect our milk factory in a box by filing a provisional patent. The non-provisional patent applications will be made by March 2020.

Note from PledgeMe

We have completed a Veda check on the company and their Director, as well as a Google check. There were no adverse findings.

 

Updates 2

You need to pledge to see this update.

Holy Cow!

21/11/2019 at 4:06 PM

Wow! I'm overwhelmed by your support! We're just chilling the beers on our launch party and now it looks like we'll be celebrating hitting our target - just 4 hours from our public launch.

It's great to have you all onboard as co-owners of Happy Cow Milk. Together, we're going to change the way we do dairy!

When we get to $400,000, that will be this round fully subscribed, so tell all your mates while there's still some shares up for grabs.

And if you're in Christchurch, please come join the celebration:

BizDojo

Ash Street

5pm today (Thursday)

Thanks so much - I'm humbled by your support and overwhelmed by your passion for better dairy,

Glen

 

    Details

    Offer Details

    Current Valuation 1,300,000
    Raise Minimum 300,000
    Raise Maximum 400,000
    Share Price 1.00
    Minimum Pledge 100.00
    Maximum Shares Offered 400,000
    Explanation of valuation:

    Our pre-raise valuation of $1.3m has been created with the help of our advisors. It is based on the Berkus method of valuation, which is commonly used by venture capitalists to create valuations for pre-revenue “start-ups.”.

    Financial Summary

    Prev Year Current Year Est. FY 2025 Est. FY 2026
    Revenue NZ $0 NZ $0 NZ $665,010 NZ $2,511,000
    Operating Expenses NZ $ NZ $58,985 NZ $298,248 NZ $990,320
    EBITDA NZ $ NZ $208,333 NZ $656,748 NZ $2,211,320
    Net Profit NZ $ -NZ $208,333 NZ $8,262 NZ $299,680

    Company Details

    Company Name: HAPPY HERD MILK COMPANY LIMITED

    Company Number: 7038037

    Company Documents

    Documents no longer available to download, as this campaign has closed

    Director Details

    Name Role Profile URL Invested?
    Glen Herud Founder http://https://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-herud-7abb192b/

    Questions 7


    Hi Glen,
    First of all congrats to achieve funding target in so short time.
    I was keen to be the part of your venture but I miss the chance.

    I'll appreciate if you can let us know your future offering so we can be the part of this venture.
    Tariq

    Posted on 27-11-2019 by Tariq

    Hi Glen, the business model seems to require farmers to invest in the hardware (buy tanks). Right? I'd be interested to know whether you'd considered the alternative where Happy Cow owns/controls the brand, means of distribution (tanks). No capital investment by farmers + equal or higher payout for milk would turbocharge the supply side eh?

    Posted on 21-11-2019 by Peter Miles

    Hi Glen, really happy to see you get up and have another go! I have two questions, firstly, I don't see very strong Accounting / Financial Skills on the Board and I think that this would be good to have, even at this early point. Secondly, have you considered funding from Callaghan Institute as I'm sure they will be very supportive of this? Note, I have good contacts for both of these roles if needed.

    Posted on 21-11-2019 by Antony White

    Hi Antony. Thanks for your support. The financial management is of the utmost importance to us. We have had very good financial advice leading up to this and much of the delay in our launch was in order to understand the financials better. Our accountant is taking an active role in the business and acting as a CFO with monthly meetings and more if needed.

    After the trial, we will appoint a formal board.

    Yes, we have been chatting to Callaghan.

    Happy to chat about your contacts too.

    Cheers
    Glen

    Answered on 21-11-2019 by Glen Herud


    Hi Glen, congrats on getting this far.

    It seems farmers don't get paid until the milk sells, does this mean if the milk doesn't sell (maybe a power fault at the cafe, fault with the vessel, or just not enough customers before the expiry?) that farmers are carrying the burden?

    Also I'm worried how consistent the supply and demand will equalise to give certainty to farmers, retailers and customers, especially in the early stages - how will farms know that a retailer will be ready to buy take their milk, will they have the ability to sell it elsewhere if there isn't demand for a tank? Retailers will have to refit their stores in order to take the tanks, what certainty will they have that a farmer will provide milk when they need it? How may retailers have expressed an interest in the system? Any you're able to name?

    Posted on 20-11-2019 by Tom Young

    Hi Tom, all good questions. All parties get paid as the milk is dispensed in real-time. The core function of the Happy Cow platform is to match supply with demand. That was the hardest part of the last business. Every tank is monitored in real-time for temp, volume & location.
    We know the level of every tank, we also know the current & historic usage of each retailer. We can predict when an outlet will need more milk. In time we will add a learning algorithm that will make this prediction more accurate.

    Milk is invoiced as it goes through the dispenser. So if someone takes a tank to a farmers market and only sells 50% of the milk. Our system will direct them to a cafe etc where the tank can be used.
    We are monitoring the temp in real-time, so we are ensuring the milk stays cold.

    Farmers will get a prediction of how many tanks are required each day for the next 7 days. But in the early stages, we will use existing farmers who can send milk to their current milk company if demand is not enough.

    Also, the reason we've designed the system the way we have is so that cafes, retailers and other outlets don't have to make any changes to their current fit-outs. Our tanks fit under a standard bench or they can be stand-alone. Our tanks have their own modular refrigeration system too, so they don't have to be stored in a fridge. They can sit against a wall etc.

    We haven't decided exactly where or who we will launch with. But we will probably go with primary schools, of which we have a large list who have signed up as interested.

    I hope that helps.

    Cheers
    Glen

    Answered on 21-11-2019 by Glen Herud


    Hi Glen, long-time Patreon supporter here, congrats on getting this far :)

    I’m a software developer and consequently know how wickedly expensive it can be to make production-ready code. How are the developers being paid and what happens if the project blows out? The entire fundraise wouldn’t cover three developers for a year and while it’s great you have a prototype, in my experience it’s an 80/20 type problem, getting it working is one thing, but getting it working *all* of the time is something else.

    Related to that - are there options packages or any number of options reserved that could impact equity value?

    Thanks!

    Phil

    Posted on 20-11-2019 by Philip Brock

    Hi Philip, Very good observations. We will develop the system in stages obviously. The trial system can actually run with no automation at all. We can use a pen and paper if needed. This is our backstop, we can reach breakeven even if none of the code works.

    I have two senior developers who have a lot of experience in startups and networks. They have built-in a lot of buffer into the plan. Logan Wait is on our advisory board has a built and sold a software company dealing in regulatory compliance. Between these three people we have a sold development plan.

    The hardware is where things can get fiddly, but we are anticipating that.

    Finally, this raise is to get us to Auckland and selling milk. It's to show that our system works and people will buy our milk in reusable bottles.
    Once we have proved this, we will do another raise. This will fund further full-time developers.

    Cheers
    Glen

    Answered on 20-11-2019 by Glen Herud


    Hi there, do you have a system or set of regulations which ensures farmers who become a part of Happy Cow Milk maintain the ethical and environmental standards (kinder, greener, fairer dairy) of the brand?

    Posted on 20-11-2019 by Shannon

    Hi Shannon, we certainly will. But we want to approach this from a different angle. Firstly we will only accept farmers who actually believe what we believe and want to be a part of our way of doing things. The second bit, which we haven't talked much about. Is our model of complete openness and transparency. Each farmer will eventually have an online dashboard that is publicly available. It will disclose such things as fertilizer usage, antibiotic use & current feed etc. We're thinking live webcams too. This approach is about open information sharing and interaction with customers about daily farm practices. It means our farmers and customers are communicating openly and honestly with each other. The perfect feedback loop.

    So yes we will have standards, like our cow and calf policy that we will monitor, but its really going to be up to our customers to make sure our policies are enforced.

    To farmers, this may seem a terrible idea. But I've seen how beneficial it is to operate like this. It's the Happy Cow way.

    Answered on 20-11-2019 by Glen Herud


    Hi Glen, I have a question about the second capital raise. Will this be another crowdfunding exercise? Or will you seek capital from the shareholders? Cheers

    Posted on 20-11-2019 by Emily

    Hi, We expect to do another equity crowdfunding campaign. So we expect some existing shareholders to buy more shares, but we also know that once we are actually selling milk. A lot of other people will be able to see it all actually working and this will attract more investors who didn't take part in this raise.

    Cheers
    Glen

    Answered on 20-11-2019 by Glen Herud

    Pledgers 557

    Jonathan Goodwin
    21/11/2019 at 2:55pm
    Nicole
    21/11/2019 at 2:53pm
    Damian Sligo-Green
    21/11/2019 at 2:51pm
    [email protected]
    21/11/2019 at 2:48pm

    "Good luck, look forward to updates "

    Inge Barker
    21/11/2019 at 2:47pm

    "Been following your ventures for some time Wishing this project all the succes it deserves "

    Janelle McNeil
    21/11/2019 at 2:46pm
    Patricia Boyce
    21/11/2019 at 2:36pm
    Rob Laking
    21/11/2019 at 2:36pm
    Matthew Gardner
    21/11/2019 at 2:35pm
    Zihan zheng
    21/11/2019 at 2:34pm
    chuckd
    21/11/2019 at 2:33pm
    Jacob Clere
    21/11/2019 at 2:27pm
    Claire Langley
    21/11/2019 at 2:22pm

    "Thank you for your initiative:-)"

    michal
    21/11/2019 at 2:18pm
    Tim Fraser
    21/11/2019 at 2:18pm
    Nathan Latton
    21/11/2019 at 2:17pm
    Carolyn Sylvester
    21/11/2019 at 2:16pm

    "This is huge. A game changer. I couldn't be prouder to be involved."

    Bronwyn Campbell
    21/11/2019 at 2:03pm
    Brad
    21/11/2019 at 2:02pm
    Mark Walsh
    21/11/2019 at 2:02pm
    Helen Townsend
    21/11/2019 at 1:59pm

    "So pleased to be able to support better dairying in NZ, congratulations on a great first day of crowdfunding!"

    Cameron Brown
    21/11/2019 at 1:57pm
    Alister Kuypers
    21/11/2019 at 1:56pm
    Rachael Bowie
    21/11/2019 at 1:52pm
    Matthew Barnett
    21/11/2019 at 1:52pm

    "Good luck Glen"

    Annika Werner
    21/11/2019 at 1:49pm
    Malcolm Shearer
    21/11/2019 at 1:46pm
    Vyvienne Evans
    21/11/2019 at 1:32pm
    Katie Johnston
    21/11/2019 at 1:29pm
    Natalie Coats
    21/11/2019 at 1:27pm

    Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd t/a Happy Cow Milk Co.

    Kinder, greener, fairer dairy

    Followers of Happy Cow Moovement all want the same thing. We all want a positive and real change in the way dairy is done. We exist to actually make that change, not just look like we’re making the change.

    At Happy Cow Milk, we’re adding kindness, caring & fairness to every litre of milk. 

    Kia ora from our Founder, Glen

    The hard thing about doing hard things is that it’s always harder than we think. The hardest thing for me has been knowing if my vision for kinder, greener, fairer dairy was too hard and therefore unachievable. Or was it hard, but within reach?

    During the Happy Cow journey, our crowd of fans and customers have helped me keep going through years of hard work, and uncertainty. Every week people contact me and tell me how much they love what we were doing at Happy Cow Milk Co. That kept me going.  

    Two things came through again and again — leaving calves with their mothers and reusable packaging. Ultimately, it was those two things that contributed to the demise of my first attempt to do dairy better with Happy Cow Milk 1.0. We supplied milk in re-usable glass bottles, but they were time consuming and costly to wash and fill. Our bottle return system was too cumbersome for many retailers. And when I needed to increase the supply of milk we couldn’t find a single farmer willing to adopt our cow and calf policy. 

    Some have said that’s proof those things can’t be done. I see them as hard things that we just haven‘t solved yet. When I eventually had to admit defeat and closed the business, it was again the crowd and my customers who provided encouragement and support. Boy, did they provide the support. Our selfless Patreon supporters have allowed us to keep the lights on and continue to work on solving the hard things about dairy. We’ll explain in our Information Memorandum below how we plan to do that. 

    The thing I’m most proud of is how our new dairy system will allow anyone - even those with limited resources - to be part of our solution. Happy Cow Milk is built around a core value that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Anyone with 50 cows can be a Happy Cow farmer. 

    Anyone can be a retailer. And now, anyone can be an investor. With as little as $100, you become part of our moovement for kinder, greener fairer dairy. It may be a hard thing. But we can do it together. This is the first step. 

    Glen Herud 

    Our offer to you

    We are offering up to 400,000 shares at $1 each. The minimum subscription required under this offer is 300,000 shares.

    This investment is in Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd trading as Happy Cow Milk Co. 

    Start date: 21 November 2019
    End date: 16 December 2019

     

    Why we exist 

    Kinder dairy

    A kinder dairy simply means the cows are treated really well and allowed to live as cows naturally would. That means a mother cow feeds and cares for her calf. It means we don’t push our cows too hard to maximise production.

    Greener dairy

    A greener dairy means cows shouldn’t pollute our waterways or the environment. Greener dairy means diverse pasture species, it means cows integrated with crops and trees. It means biodiversity of plants, animals, birds, insects and microorganisms. Greener dairy also means no plastic. It means we use the packaging again and again.

    Fairer dairy

    A fairer dairy is about how cows are treated but it also means that farmers who are doing the right thing are rewarded. It means that farmers shouldn’t have to be big just to be profitable.

    The problem 

    The reason we don’t have a kinder, greener, fairer dairy already is because, from our experience, the people who control the industry don’t want to change.

    • We believe the dairy industry in New Zealand and around the world is controlled by entrenched attitudes within big dairy, corporate milk processors and the big retail chains.

    • They decide how our cows are farmed and how milk is produced. They choose how our milk is processed and packaged into single-use plastic and they choose to not pay the farmers enough.

    • To get kinder, greener, fairer dairy, we want to bypass the industry power brokers and the gatekeepers.

    At Happy Cow Milk, we’re planning to disrupt dairy. The same way the music, transport and accommodation industries have been disrupted - by connecting producers directly to consumers.

     

    Our solution: Simplify, simplify, simplify!

    Bypassing the middle-man. We had to rethink and redesign how we pasteurise milk at the farm, we had to rethink how milk was sold and who sold it and we had to re-think how milk was delivered to.

     

    The milk factory in a box

    Provisional patents have been filed on this revolutionary piece of technology that we hope will transform the dairy industry in New Zealand and around the world. 

    Milk goes in at the farm and is pasteurised and then cooled inside. The whole unit is transported to the cafe or community-based retail outlet, where it becomes a dispensing unit. This closed system ensures food safety and reduces the high cost of compliance that other processing systems face. 

    Each unit is connected to a smart network that monitors temperature and keeps track of the milk as it’s used. The Happy Cow system notifies farmers when a retailer needs a full unit delivered. 

    The provisional patents have been filed and the regular, non-provisional patent will be filed by March 2020 with a view to international patents in the future.

     

    Happy Cow Milk connects local farmers to resellers and consumers who want milk produced in an ethical and responsible manner.

    • We will do this by providing the tools needed by each of the participants.

    • We aim to provide farmers with the efficient milk processing hardware and software combination, which enables them to meet the regulatory requirements to pasteurise milk. 

    • We plan to provide resellers with the dispenser equipment that enable them to sell milk. 

    • We aim to connect consumers to the resellers using the power of our passionate crowd.

    • We will provide the payment system that enables all the parties to get paid in real-time. 

    Happy Cow 2.0 will make its money by taking a portion of each litre of milk sold. We don’t plan to make money from selling the hardware or software. The hardware will be sold to the farmers at cost price.

    Our goal is to put the hardware in the hands of as many people as possible so they can produce and sell Happy Cow Milk.

    For Happy Cow Milk to grow we need to replicate our core transaction again and again - 1 farmer with 50 cows producing 1,000 litres of milk per day. We’ll pay $1.20/ litre. Fonterra only pays $0.55/litre.

     

    Market opportunity

    Domestic 

    In New Zealand approximately 427 million litres of fresh liquid milk is sold every year, with the average New Zealander consuming 90 litres of milk per year. 

    Happy Cow is positioning itself as a brand that has the ability to scale nationally with zero packaging. We plan to have higher animal welfare than any other milk brand on the market*. All this while keeping milk affordable at $2.50 per litre.

    We think it‘s achievable for Happy Cow Milk Co to capture 5% of the New Zealand fresh milk market. This equates to a total retail value of $53.4 million dollars per year.

    • This would require 2,928 cows or 59 farmers with 50 cows each.

    • We would need to replicate our core transaction 59 times across New Zealand.

    • This equates to a total retail value of $53.4 million per year and $8.5 million in revenue for Happy Cow Milk. 

    *Refer to our animal welfare guidelines at www.happycowmilk.co.nz/happy-cow-way

    International

    The real potential for growth is the international market. Once we’ve proven our model can scale in New Zealand, we will aim to be able to adapt our system to international markets. 

    • We will aim to grow by replicating our core transaction in cities around the world.

    • Happy Cow 2.0 is designed to scale anywhere in the world - one farmer at a time.

    We will continue to leverage the power of our crowd as we move to international markets. We’ll begin by researching the greatest export opportunities in mid 2020 when we hope to have the New Zealand model functioning well. We’ll look at entering the Australian market next because it has the same regulatory environment as New Zealand

    Growth strategy

    Happy Cow Milk is a platform with farmers on one side of the platform and consumers on the other. Both sides have strong incentives to join the Happy Cow Milk platform.

    Our growth and market potential will depend on how many times we can replicate our core transaction. 

    The key to growth is to be able to attract farmers, resellers & consumers to the platform and make it easy for them to sign up and participate. The Happy Cow Milk marketing team will focus on attracting all three participants in our target regions and facilitate the matchmaking process. We aim to make the on-boarding of new participants a frictionless process. 

    The hardware, software and user interfaces are designed to ensure that each participant can start processing milk, retailing milk or purchasing milk in quick easy steps. 

    The best way Happy Cow Milk can attract participants is to ensure all members receive outstanding benefits from being part of the network. 

    Meet the team

    Meet our advisors

    We’re fortunate to have worked with industry experts and advisors across the country. These people are giving their time and expertise to make Happy Cow Milk succeed. Following the capital raise we intend to form a formal board.

     

    Why we're Crowdfunding

    Happy Cow Milk exists today because of our crowd - people who refused to give up on the idea of kinder, greener, fairer dairy. People like you who were willing to invest in a belief that there had to be a better way.

    This is why we wanted to give the first option to invest to the people who’ve supported and believed in this idea from the beginning. We’ve got big plans for transforming dairy from the inside out and we can’t do it alone.

    Together, we’re transforming a business into a mooovement!

    Share offer

    We are offering up to 400,000 shares at $1 each. The minimum subscription required under this offer is 300,000 shares.

    Investors who subscribe for 10,000 shares or more will receive ordinary shares which have the same rights in all respects as existing ordinary shares in Happy Cow Milk. Investors who subscribe for less than 10,000 shares will receive non-voting shares.

    Non-voting shares do not give the holder the right to vote at meetings of shareholders. In very limited circumstances (to ensure the shareholder’s core rights are protected) each non-voting share gives the holder the right to one vote.

    This only occurs where there is a proposal or resolution which affects the rights attaching to the non-voting shares.

    Both ordinary shares and non-voting shares issued under this offer will give the holders:

    • The right to an equal share in dividends and other distributions made by Happy Herd Limited (subject to the rights of any other class of share)

    • The right to an equal share in the distribution of surplus assets of Happy Herd Milk Company Limited.

    The ordinary shares are voting shares and have full voting rights attached.  

    What we’ll do with the money

    We’re raising money to build the prototype and test the model in the real world. This aims to prove the business model works and prove the technology works. From there, we’ll be in a position to start scaling up by adding more farms and retailers to the network.

    We will spend the 1st quarter of 2020 getting the first milk factory in a box built and tested. The system will then be inspected by MPI for accreditation.

    Farm Trial 

    Revenue is based on starting with a single farm trial in April 2020, supplying 750 litres per day to the Auckland market by May 2020. 

    During the farm trial, Happy Cow Milk will be operating the milk processing unit and will be conducting all deliveries. Happy Cow Milk will purchase raw milk from the trial farmer at the same rate as their current milk processors payout. 

    During the trial Happy Cow Milk will receive $1.70/litre of milk sold and Happy Cow Milk will pay all processing & deliver costs.  At the completion of the trial, the trial farmer will take over the operation of the test unit & undertake all the deliveries & processing duties.

    At this point Happy Cow Milk will receive our usual commission of $0.40/litre. For this reason, our income decreases as we transition from the trial to 100% commision income.

    Following a successful trial we will grow by adding additional farmers near major New Zealand population centres from July 2020. 

    Additional Capital Raise 

    All financials assume another capital raise of $500,000 will take place at the completion of a successful trial. These funds will enable us to expand into international markets.

    Risks & how we'll address them

    What if people don’t buy enough milk?

    We’re launching the trial in Auckland where there is the largest population base and we only need to sell 750 litres for the trial to break even. We’ll scale around the country, using farmers who are close to large enough population centres to make this work.

    What if the technology doesn’t work?

    We’ve spent the last year building and testing a basic, working version of the technology. This capital raise will pay professional electrical engineers and software developers to take what we already have and make it robust and secure. We feel confident that it will work and that any problems will be solvable.

    What if we can’t get MPI approval?

    It isn’t possible to get sign-off from The Ministry for Primary Industries until we’ve built the final prototype, but we’ve prepared for this by designing the prototype with a food safety consultant and we have presented our plans to MPI approved dairy assessors who have indicated that our system will comply. We won’t have confirmation until the final equipment is assessed.

    What if we can’t get farmers on board?

    We’ve already got 130 farmers across the country who have signed up to our email updates and seven who have expressed their interest in joining Happy Cow Milk. We expect the trial to show profits for farmers that will be a large incentive to getting more people on board.

    What about trademark infringement?

    There is another brand in the dairy category which has “Happy Cow” in their name, of which they have trademarked. For this reason it is unlikely we will be able to trademark the "Happy Cow Milk Company“ name. We do have a trademark for our logo though. The official name of our entity is Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd. In early 2020 we will decide on a new name that stays with the “happy” theme and relates to our smily face logo.

    What if someone else copies our idea?

    We’ve taken steps to protect our milk factory in a box by filing a provisional patent. The non-provisional patent applications will be made by March 2020.

    Note from PledgeMe

    We have completed a Veda check on the company and their Director, as well as a Google check. There were no adverse findings.

     

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    Holy Cow!

    21/11/2019 at 4:06 PM

    Wow! I'm overwhelmed by your support! We're just chilling the beers on our launch party and now it looks like we'll be celebrating hitting our target - just 4 hours from our public launch.

    It's great to have you all onboard as co-owners of Happy Cow Milk. Together, we're going to change the way we do dairy!

    When we get to $400,000, that will be this round fully subscribed, so tell all your mates while there's still some shares up for grabs.

    And if you're in Christchurch, please come join the celebration:

    BizDojo

    Ash Street

    5pm today (Thursday)

    Thanks so much - I'm humbled by your support and overwhelmed by your passion for better dairy,

    Glen

     

      Offer Details

      Current Valuation 1,300,000
      Raise Minimum 300,000
      Raise Maximum 400,000
      Share Price 1.00
      Minimum Pledge 100.00
      Maximum Shares Offered 400,000
      Explanation of valuation:

      Our pre-raise valuation of $1.3m has been created with the help of our advisors. It is based on the Berkus method of valuation, which is commonly used by venture capitalists to create valuations for pre-revenue “start-ups.”.

      Financial Summary

      Prev Year Current Year Est. FY 2025 Est. FY 2026
      Revenue NZ $0 NZ $0 NZ $665,010 NZ $2,511,000
      Operating Expenses NZ $ NZ $58,985 NZ $298,248 NZ $990,320
      EBITDA NZ $ NZ $208,333 NZ $656,748 NZ $2,211,320
      Net Profit NZ $ -NZ $208,333 NZ $8,262 NZ $299,680

      Company Details

      Company Name: HAPPY HERD MILK COMPANY LIMITED

      Company Number: 7038037

      Company Documents

      Documents no longer available to download, as this campaign has closed

      Director Details

      Name Role Profile URL Invested?
      Glen Herud Founder http://https://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-herud-7abb192b/

      Hi Glen,
      First of all congrats to achieve funding target in so short time.
      I was keen to be the part of your venture but I miss the chance.

      I'll appreciate if you can let us know your future offering so we can be the part of this venture.
      Tariq

      Posted on 27-11-2019 by Tariq

      Hi Glen, the business model seems to require farmers to invest in the hardware (buy tanks). Right? I'd be interested to know whether you'd considered the alternative where Happy Cow owns/controls the brand, means of distribution (tanks). No capital investment by farmers + equal or higher payout for milk would turbocharge the supply side eh?

      Posted on 21-11-2019 by Peter Miles

      Hi Glen, really happy to see you get up and have another go! I have two questions, firstly, I don't see very strong Accounting / Financial Skills on the Board and I think that this would be good to have, even at this early point. Secondly, have you considered funding from Callaghan Institute as I'm sure they will be very supportive of this? Note, I have good contacts for both of these roles if needed.

      Posted on 21-11-2019 by Antony White

      Hi Antony. Thanks for your support. The financial management is of the utmost importance to us. We have had very good financial advice leading up to this and much of the delay in our launch was in order to understand the financials better. Our accountant is taking an active role in the business and acting as a CFO with monthly meetings and more if needed.

      After the trial, we will appoint a formal board.

      Yes, we have been chatting to Callaghan.

      Happy to chat about your contacts too.

      Cheers
      Glen

      Answered on 21-11-2019 by Glen Herud


      Hi Glen, congrats on getting this far.

      It seems farmers don't get paid until the milk sells, does this mean if the milk doesn't sell (maybe a power fault at the cafe, fault with the vessel, or just not enough customers before the expiry?) that farmers are carrying the burden?

      Also I'm worried how consistent the supply and demand will equalise to give certainty to farmers, retailers and customers, especially in the early stages - how will farms know that a retailer will be ready to buy take their milk, will they have the ability to sell it elsewhere if there isn't demand for a tank? Retailers will have to refit their stores in order to take the tanks, what certainty will they have that a farmer will provide milk when they need it? How may retailers have expressed an interest in the system? Any you're able to name?

      Posted on 20-11-2019 by Tom Young

      Hi Tom, all good questions. All parties get paid as the milk is dispensed in real-time. The core function of the Happy Cow platform is to match supply with demand. That was the hardest part of the last business. Every tank is monitored in real-time for temp, volume & location.
      We know the level of every tank, we also know the current & historic usage of each retailer. We can predict when an outlet will need more milk. In time we will add a learning algorithm that will make this prediction more accurate.

      Milk is invoiced as it goes through the dispenser. So if someone takes a tank to a farmers market and only sells 50% of the milk. Our system will direct them to a cafe etc where the tank can be used.
      We are monitoring the temp in real-time, so we are ensuring the milk stays cold.

      Farmers will get a prediction of how many tanks are required each day for the next 7 days. But in the early stages, we will use existing farmers who can send milk to their current milk company if demand is not enough.

      Also, the reason we've designed the system the way we have is so that cafes, retailers and other outlets don't have to make any changes to their current fit-outs. Our tanks fit under a standard bench or they can be stand-alone. Our tanks have their own modular refrigeration system too, so they don't have to be stored in a fridge. They can sit against a wall etc.

      We haven't decided exactly where or who we will launch with. But we will probably go with primary schools, of which we have a large list who have signed up as interested.

      I hope that helps.

      Cheers
      Glen

      Answered on 21-11-2019 by Glen Herud


      Hi Glen, long-time Patreon supporter here, congrats on getting this far :)

      I’m a software developer and consequently know how wickedly expensive it can be to make production-ready code. How are the developers being paid and what happens if the project blows out? The entire fundraise wouldn’t cover three developers for a year and while it’s great you have a prototype, in my experience it’s an 80/20 type problem, getting it working is one thing, but getting it working *all* of the time is something else.

      Related to that - are there options packages or any number of options reserved that could impact equity value?

      Thanks!

      Phil

      Posted on 20-11-2019 by Philip Brock

      Hi Philip, Very good observations. We will develop the system in stages obviously. The trial system can actually run with no automation at all. We can use a pen and paper if needed. This is our backstop, we can reach breakeven even if none of the code works.

      I have two senior developers who have a lot of experience in startups and networks. They have built-in a lot of buffer into the plan. Logan Wait is on our advisory board has a built and sold a software company dealing in regulatory compliance. Between these three people we have a sold development plan.

      The hardware is where things can get fiddly, but we are anticipating that.

      Finally, this raise is to get us to Auckland and selling milk. It's to show that our system works and people will buy our milk in reusable bottles.
      Once we have proved this, we will do another raise. This will fund further full-time developers.

      Cheers
      Glen

      Answered on 20-11-2019 by Glen Herud


      Hi there, do you have a system or set of regulations which ensures farmers who become a part of Happy Cow Milk maintain the ethical and environmental standards (kinder, greener, fairer dairy) of the brand?

      Posted on 20-11-2019 by Shannon

      Hi Shannon, we certainly will. But we want to approach this from a different angle. Firstly we will only accept farmers who actually believe what we believe and want to be a part of our way of doing things. The second bit, which we haven't talked much about. Is our model of complete openness and transparency. Each farmer will eventually have an online dashboard that is publicly available. It will disclose such things as fertilizer usage, antibiotic use & current feed etc. We're thinking live webcams too. This approach is about open information sharing and interaction with customers about daily farm practices. It means our farmers and customers are communicating openly and honestly with each other. The perfect feedback loop.

      So yes we will have standards, like our cow and calf policy that we will monitor, but its really going to be up to our customers to make sure our policies are enforced.

      To farmers, this may seem a terrible idea. But I've seen how beneficial it is to operate like this. It's the Happy Cow way.

      Answered on 20-11-2019 by Glen Herud


      Hi Glen, I have a question about the second capital raise. Will this be another crowdfunding exercise? Or will you seek capital from the shareholders? Cheers

      Posted on 20-11-2019 by Emily

      Hi, We expect to do another equity crowdfunding campaign. So we expect some existing shareholders to buy more shares, but we also know that once we are actually selling milk. A lot of other people will be able to see it all actually working and this will attract more investors who didn't take part in this raise.

      Cheers
      Glen

      Answered on 20-11-2019 by Glen Herud

      Jonathan Goodwin
      21/11/2019 at 2:55pm
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      21/11/2019 at 2:53pm
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      21/11/2019 at 2:51pm
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      21/11/2019 at 2:48pm

      "Good luck, look forward to updates "

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      "Been following your ventures for some time Wishing this project all the succes it deserves "

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      "Thank you for your initiative:-)"

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      21/11/2019 at 2:16pm

      "This is huge. A game changer. I couldn't be prouder to be involved."

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      21/11/2019 at 1:59pm

      "So pleased to be able to support better dairying in NZ, congratulations on a great first day of crowdfunding!"

      Cameron Brown
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      "Good luck Glen"

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      21/11/2019 at 1:27pm
      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 21/11/2019 at 8:08 PM.

      This campaign has closed, but this company may choose to do more equity raises on PledgeMe in the future. If you're interested in investing in Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd t/a Happy Cow Milk Co., you can sign up to be notified when a new equity campaign from this company is published.

      Notify Me

      Investor Perks

      Non-Voting Shares

      NZ $100.00+

      Buy shares in Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd trading as Happy Cow Milk Co. 100 shares equals $100. Receive equal share of dividends (if any) or any other distributions made by Happy Herd Milk Co Ltd.

      Voting Shares

      NZ $10,000.00+

      Buy 10,000 shares or more in Happy Herd Milk Company Ltd trading as Happy Cow Milk Co. and you will receive ordinary shares which have voting rights attached. Vote on major transactions and director appointments. 100 shares equals $100. Receive equal share of dividends (if any) or any other distributions made by Happy Herd Milk Co Ltd.

      Warning statement about equity crowdfunding

      Equity crowdfunding is risky.

      Issuers using this facility include new or rapidly growing ventures. Investment in these types of business is very speculative and carries high risks.

      You may lose your entire investment, and must be in a position to bear this risk without undue hardship.

      New Zealand law normally requires people who offer financial products to give information to investors before they invest. This requires those offering financial products to have disclosed information that is important for investors to make an informed decision.

      The usual rules do not apply to offers by issuers using this facility. As a result, you may not be given all the information usually required. You will also have fewer other legal protections for this investment.

      Ask questions, read all information given carefully, and seek independent financial advice before committing yourself.