Happy Herd Milk Company (T/A Happy Cow Milk)
By Glen Herud
PledgeMe.Investment
Food,
NZ $566,202 pledged
646 people pledged
Closed
NZ $500,001 minimum target
This campaign was successful and closed on 09/08/2021 at 5:00 PM.
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Happy Herd Milk Company (T/A Happy Cow Milk)
Caring, Kinder, Fairer Dairy.
In 2018, Glen Herud was ready to throw in the towel on his mission to create an ethical and sustainable dairy model; his tight-knit community of supporters were not. Today, thanks to the immense support received from people who believed and invested in Glen’s vision, we are finally ready to bring our innovative “milk factory in a box” to market.
Happy Cow Milk is here to revolutionise the way we do dairy, creating a caring, kinder, and fairer industry. We have built a platform that enables dairy farmers to supply ethical and sustainable milk to their local community. Essentially, we’ve designed the entire milk processing and distribution system so that anyone can economically farm, sell or buy Happy Cow Milk.
Our story is only just beginning. A story that would not have been possible without our loyal community. Now, more than ever, we need your help to continue to write it.
Happy Cow Milk is an investment in doing dairy differently. If we don’t make the changes, who will?
The Problem
As most people are aware, the current practices of the dairy industry are having detrimental impacts on our environment.
The dairy industry has been undergoing an extensive shift for years now, with 54% of dairy farms closing down all over the world between 2000 and 2014, eliminating smaller family farms, and replacing them with large-scale, intensive production farms.
Why do we need family farms? Family farms have a unique culture, exhibiting sensible farming practices, community, family values, long-term thinking, connection, and trust. In combination, these attributes are the key to a sustainable future for agriculture.
Our Solution
Happy Cow’s milk processing system bypasses the complex milk supply chain to allow farmers to sell directly to customers.
It all starts with filling our smart internet-connected micro pasteuriser tanks with milk, which are then pasteurised in a hub, better known as our ‘Milk Factory in a Box’. The technology behind the Happy Cow Milk system takes care of all the food safety regulations automatically, which can be monitored through the Farmer App.
Anyone can be a retailer of Happy Cow Milk, from schools, to workplaces, to grocery stores, to cafés. Cafés can also host a tank of their own to benefit from packaging-free milk. Additionally, dispensers can opt to sell through home delivery, via the reseller app, using a mode of transport of their choice.
Customers find dispensers through the Customer app, bringing their own clean bottles to fill up. Payments are processed through the same app, distributing a share of the sale to the farmer and retailer immediately. The app also gives consumers the unique opportunity to see exactly where their milk has come from, and to communicate directly with the farmer.
Participants from each stage of the supply chain are coordinated through Happy Cow software and hardware, creating a seamless distribution process from start to finish.
Read more about how our milk processing system works in our Information Memorandum.
Our Impact
Our footprint on the world has the potential to extend far beyond positive environmental impacts. Happy Cow Milk’s business model has the ability not only to substantially reduce carbon emissions and plastic waste, but to positively influence consumers and producers too. Consumers can purchase their milk guilt-free at an affordable price, knowing that their actions are making a difference. Producers can increase their revenue by 130%, forming positive long-term connections with their customers. The result? Community.
The Journey so far...
Since its inception in 2015, Happy Cow Milk has achieved a great deal to get where we are today. None of what we have accomplished would have been possible without our incredibly supportive crowd, and our progress has been accelerated by the overwhelming response we received from our first equity crowdfunding campaign.
Since our first crowdfunding round, we have hit these major milestones:
Happy Cow Milk has been recognised in a number of forums and we've been fortunate to have our work profiled in a number of places. Here's a few of our favourites:
● We were thrilled to win two awards at the Food, Fibre & Agriculture Supernode Challenge: read about the recognition here (our blog post) & here (the AgResearch + UC release). (May 2021)
● Packaging-free milk is flowing at Saltworks Coworking Space (May 2021)
● 'Canterbury farmer reaches crowdfunding target for 'kinder, greener, fairer dairy' system' (November 2019)
● 'Dairy doesn't have to be like this: Happy Cow 2.0 looks for a better way' (November 2019)
What's next?
The next phase in the Happy Cow journey is scaling around the country. We intend to invest heavily in growth in order to replicate our core transaction as many times as possible and earn the benefits of scale. If all goes to plan, Happy Cow Milk will be fully profitable by 2023, beginning to roll out to commercial full-scale farmers.
The versatility of our platform will allow us not only to expand across New Zealand, but to take share of any milk market in the world. All we have to do is replicate micro milk communities by enabling local farmers, giving our business model huge global potential.
We hope in the future to return financial value to our shareholders in the form of dividends. We are here to make a difference and not a quick buck so we don't have plans to sell the company. This may be an option we'll consider down the track.
Where are our funds going?
We’ve got big plans for caring, kinder, fairer dairy and we can’t do it alone.
The equity crowdfund will allow us to:
1. Launch a trial unit in Christchurch (i.e. pilot farm)
2. Develop our software and hardware, ready to scale up in 2022
3. Scale up on production of hubs and tanks
Growth for Happy Cow is expensive, yet incredibly essential in order to achieve the desired environmental and community impact. These early investments will allow Happy Cow Milk to begin working with farms in 2022, and, as the number of farms onboard grows, the benefits of scale will expand exponentially.
The Financials
Our Offer:
We are offering up to 666,667 shares at $3.00 each. The minimum total amount required to be raised under this offer is $500,001 (166,667 shares).
Where we're heading...
For a more detailed breakdown of our financial commentary, information and projections, see our Information Memorandum.
Our Crowd
A key feature to Happy Cow Milk’s evolution and success has been the strength and support of you; our passionate crowd.
The messages we receive everyday confirm that consumers are ready for a kinder, greener, fairer alternative. You are long-term thinkers; people who know that real change takes time and there are no shortcuts to building something that will change the world. Without you, Happy Cow Milk wouldn’t exist today.
Our first round of equity crowdfunding in 2019 sold out in just eight hours and many keen investors missed out. That’s why, now that it’s time to raise funds for the next phase of scaling up, we’re coming back to the crowd who have supported and believed in this idea from the beginning.
Together, we’re transforming a business into a mooovement!
Join us, to become a part of the Happy Cow family today...
Meet the Team
Glen Herud
Founder
Glen has been working to find a way to do kinder, greener, fairer dairy since 2015. He will oversee the development of the “milk factory in a box”, use the power of the crowd to find retail outlets for the trial and set Happy Cow Milk up to scale.
David Trought
Technical Co-founder
David has joined as the technical co-founder and shareholder. David is a mechanical engineer who has worked with Glen to develop all the hardware components of the Happy Cow System. His experience ranges from large agricultural systems to consumer products - and he’s needed that full breadth of experience to bring Happy Cow's revolutionary system to life.
A Note from PledgeMe
We have completed Veda checks on the company, Happy Herd Milk Company Limited, and its Directors, as well as Google and Insolvency checks. In the Google search, there were two articles found on the Director's previous company going into liquidation. There were no adverse findings.
Updates 4
We've reached $500K!
05/08/2021 at 8:03 PM
THANK YOU! Thanks to 541 investors, we are delighted to announce that we've hit our minimum target of $500K. This means that we'll be able to continue the Happy Cow Milk mission of bringing kinder, greener, fairer dairy to Aotearoa New Zealand (and, in time, further afield!).
With four days left of the campaign, there's still time for you to join us as a shareholder of Happy Cow Milk - so, if you're someone who has been watching from the sidelines, now is the time to invest in the future of dairy and a team of dedicated people.
For now - thank you for your support. A key feature to Happy Cow Milk’s evolution and success has been the strength and support of you; our passionate crowd. Without you, Happy Cow Milk wouldn’t exist today - and we thank every single one of you who have invested, shared and cheered us on since 2018.
Together, we can do dairy differently.
Cheers, Glen.
One week to go!
02/08/2021 at 8:48 PM
Kia ora koutou,
Today (Monday, 2nd August) marks seven days left of the Happy Cow crowdfunding campaign - and we're so thrilled to see the support of 474 of you that have invested! Thank you and welcome onboard; it's thanks to people like you that we're here, persisting, to change dairy for the better.
Right now though, we need your help to reach the $500K threshold; for the campaign to succeed (and for Happy Cow to continue) this is the minimum that we need to raise. We would love your help in spreading the word about the campaign; can you tell two people today about how you’re helping to change dairy in Aotearoa?
If you (or your friends) are wanting to know more about the revolutionary system that we've built, we've got heaps of Q&As included under that tab - and there are more on our social media channels as well. Feel free to also message us directly; we're always happy to have a chat.
This Thursday at 8pm we've got a webinar happening titled 'Is Dairy Broken?'; join us online for a wide ranging discussion with some real life dairy farmers (details & the link are on our Facebook page).
Thank you for your ongoing support - we're looking forward to working with you to bring the next phase of Happy Cow Milk to life!
Cheers, Glen & the team
Dairy popping up everywhere in the news this week.
28/07/2021 at 12:35 PM
- Reducing the number of cows required to deliver milk profitably (mitigating intensification and it's highly negative impacts, including flow on effects for soil and water quality and carbon emissions)
- Improving animal welfare (keeping calves with their mums and reducing the pressure placed on high intensity production)
- Eliminating packaging from the process (through the use of our dispenser, which is used from the collection of milk, the pasteurisation, through to dispensing it)
- Raising the profit that farmers make (by decentralising dairy) reduces pressure on farmers
We're 60% funded!
19/07/2021 at 11:27 AM
Thank you! It's been a fantastic start to the campaign - more than 300 of you have joined us as owners and shareholders of Happy Cow Milk. Nau mai, haere mai. It's thanks to people like you that we're here, persisting, to change dairy for the better. It's so encouraging to read the comments our investors make when they pledge.
I’m pleased to see so many of our past investors return and investing even more this time. We also have a lot of new first time investors who have only recently heard about us and our mission.
I'll be hosting a live Q&A on Wednesday at 8pm to answer any questions you have about our latest crowdfunding round or our plans for the future.
I’d like to share more detail about the Happy Cow Milk business and financial model. We've have taken insights from businesses like Uber and AirBnB and applied them to the milk business. In doing so, we’ve created a model that can scale ethical dairy around the world.
Webinar link for Youtube
Webinar link for Facebook
Thanks for your support!
Glen
Details
Offer Details
| Current Valuation | 5,250,000 |
| Raise Minimum | 500,001 |
| Raise Maximum | 2,000,000 |
| Share Price | 3.00 |
| Minimum Pledge | 102.00 |
| Maximum Shares Offered | 666,667 |
Explanation of valuation:
Our pre-raise valuation of $5,250,000 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 $ | NZ $111,783 | NZ $1,492,618 | NZ $8,620,009 |
| Operating Expenses | NZ $ | NZ $666,980 | NZ $634,987 | NZ $1,511,487 |
| EBITDA | NZ $ | NZ $0 | NZ $0 | NZ $0 |
| Net Profit | NZ $ | -NZ $869,886 | -NZ $935,670 | -NZ $1,363,748 |
Company Details
Company Name: Happy Herd Milk Company Limited
Company Number: 7038037
Company Documents
Director Details
| Name | Role | Profile URL | Invested? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Herud | Director, Founder | http://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-herud-7abb192b/detail/recent-activity/posts/ | ✔ |
Questions 18
What happens if the next round of funding isn't reached? Meaning, there will be other share offers as mentioned in one of your Youtube talks at a later date (as most startups do to keep running/developing until they have revenue and positive cash flow) what will happen to the developed technology if the company has to be liquidated?
I know we all like to be positive that this will work, however I'm also aware this can end up over iterations of companies as funding fails and the tech is passed on/sold to a new entity and work continues. I see Happy Cow Milk as a Tech company building a platform, not a milk company. As a shareholder owning a % of the assets, technology that is developed, what do I get if the technology (patents etc) is sold to a new company?
How many more funding rounds are expected to be required over the next 3 years?
Posted on 05-08-2021 by SteveHi Sorry for the slow response, I missed your question.
We are a startup and startups are risky. We will need more money in the future. We need to execute on our plan in order to be able to raise the next round.
We will need to show that we are selling milk and the technology and farmers, retailers and customers want what we are offering.
We can do almost all those things now.
Our mission is to make dairy better and we do that by building tech that enables "good farmers" to win in a commercial world where "bad farmers" often win due to greater efficiency or path to market etc.
Our mission is not to build a tech company that we can sell. We are here to drive our mission as far as we can.
Whatever happens, all shareholders have the same rights to dividends and share of excess assets, etc and are treated equally to me (the founder).
If you know the Happy Cow story, you will know I'm fully aware of how a business can fail. It's the previous failure that has given us insight into what we are building here.
I hope that goes some way to answering your question.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 07-08-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi Guys,
Are these shares voting shares with full rights?
Hi Maurice
These shares are non-voting shares. Shareholders have the right to an equal share of dividends and assets etc.
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.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 04-08-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi, I love the concept of Happy Cow and am interested in investing as a potential farmer. Just wondering what the intent is with the cow and calf policy around milking time (i.e. Going to and from the shed) or are you planning to also roll out your mobile milking platform for farmers?
Posted on 04-08-2021 by Henry MarchantHi Henry
Mobile milking is not a requirement but it will suit some farmers. We're happy to work with any farmer and whatever milking shed they have.
We think a cow and calf system is the best way forward for dairy, so we're not going to drop that policy. But we're happy to work with farmers to get there using whatever equipment they have.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 04-08-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi, just a few animal related questions.
Are you able to show me a picture of the weaning “flap” that is clamped onto the calves’ noses? Is it one of the sharp spikey ones I’ve seen somewhere before? That pricks the cows udder, causing pain, when the calf tries to drink?
What happens to the calves that are not needed as replacements in the milking herd after they are weaned and more emotionally distant from their mothers?
If the calf drinks about half or more of the cow’s milk each day, wouldn’t you need more than 50 cows to be able to produce the 1000lt in your model? Then what happens to the excess milk once the calves are weaned?
If a farmer supplies Happy Cow and another factory, I assume they’ll still probably send Bobby’s from the large portion of their herd that isn’t necessarily following the happy cow way?
Posted on 31-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonLol. No, it's not the spikey ones. I'm sure you've googled it.
Short answer, we're happy to work with farmers who share our vision of a more caring, kinder and fairer dairy.
There are lots of methods and ways of doing things. There are lots of variables around production etc.
We'll work with farmers to set up a system and practices that work for them.
These farmers will be sharing what they do with their customers. Their customers will let the farmer and us know if they are unhappy with the farmer's practices.
At the end of the day, we are giving farmers who believe in our vision, that chance to gain a competitive advantage over their competition. The result is these farmers with high animal welfare practices will have viable long term businesses and we achieve our goals of more caring, kinder & fairer dairy.
Answered on 01-08-2021 by Glen Herud
How do the shares from the previous raise fit into this? Cheers
Posted on 30-07-2021 by Matthew BarnettHi Matthew
Those shareholders are still shareholders. We are issuing new shares for this round. That means that all existing shareholders (including me) get diluted to some degree.
The shares were $1/share last round and this time round the shares are being sold for $3/share. This is due to the progress we have made to date.
I hope that helps :)
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 30-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi are the baby bobby calves still removed from their mothers. And what happens to the majority of them (not the minority kept)
I’m yet to see a cow happy when her calf is taken. So I’m presuming all calves are kept for at least a full year of milking. If not how can these cows be happy? And therefore this will be a breach of the Advertising Standards Authority due to misleading advertising which is also in breach of the Fair Trading Act
Hi Roy
An explanation of our calf policy can be found here https://happycowmilk.co.nz/happy-cow-way/
In short all calves, male or female. Stay with their mothers until they are weaned at about 100kgs. Normally about 8-10 weeks of age.
A happy cow is all about how it feels. So we want to encourage the cow and calf to separate but on their own free will. So we propose the "fenceline method" which is explained on the link above.
LOL, it would be interesting to see if a court can rule on what a happy cow is. I'd be happy to defend that. :)
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 30-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Are the cows still separated from their offspring in this model?
Posted on 20-07-2021 by Penny DeaneHi Penny
We believe calves should stay with their mothers until weaning. Both male and female calves.
We cover a few of them here https://happycowmilk.co.nz/happy-cow-way/
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 20-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi, how did you arrive at your valuation of $7,250,000 with projected overall losses in the next 4 years and proof of concept not yet complete? Can you explain your methodology?
Posted on 20-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonHi
The valuation is $5,250,000 pre money. Its only $7,250,000 if we raise $2,000,000 in cash.
The valuation is based on what we've built to date. Combined with what's the companies potential is and the likely hood it will execute.
We're building a hardware and software platform that can scale anywhere in the world without us having to open an office there.
This platform offers huge value to farmers because it reduces processing, sales and distribution workload dramatically. It also doubles their revenue.
The platform offers customers a product at a reasonable price that they normally have to pay a premium for.
When we put this together, Happy Cow Milk Co can move into any market and take market share as we have a product with superior animal welfare and environmental attributes than the competition. And in most cases, the retail price will be lower than similar competitors.
Most importantly we can do this in a low-cost way which means we retain a margin and profitability.
If we can have 500 farmers around the world, each with 50-70 cows. Happy Cow Milk Co will have a revenue of approximately $60,000,000 per year.
We will have a staff of just 100.
This has the potential to be a very profitable company.
But the unique thing about this business, is we are using all this innovation to ensure we create a better dairy industry and not necessarily the most money.
This is a unique combination of skills and motivations. I'm comfortable justifying that valuation.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 20-07-2021 by Glen Herud
For the home delivery model, will the customer pay an additional delivery fee or is the delivery operator required to cover that cost out of their $0.50?
Posted on 19-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonTraditional home delivery is really costly for the delivery driver. Our home delivery model is similar to Uber Eats. Anyone in the community can be a delivery person. Our app coordinates the orders and deliveries.
The delivery person is the retailer in this situation and they receive the retail portion of the transaction ($0.50).
It's possible that the delivery people will require a greater amount of money but it wouldn't be an additional $0.50. I'd expect home-delivered milk to be no more than $0.20 more than our standard retail price.
Glen
Answered on 19-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Does the farmer have to do any sales/marketing/advertising? Or, does Happy Cow do all of this and the farmer only has to deliver the milk to where they're instructed to via the app?
Does the farmer have to pay for any compliance/audit costs from their share?
If the milk in non homogonised, are the individual tanks stirred/agitated?
Posted on 19-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonHi Logan
Happy Cow Milk will always be telling farmers stories and marketing in general.
But the farmer and their farm is the real story. So we encourage the farmers to be actively involved from the start.
The way I envisage it working is a farmer who wants to set up in their town or city will get in touch with us.
We will then give them the marketing material and advice and ask the farmer to approach some retailers, cafe's schools etc.
We do this because people want to buy from their local farmer and getting a personalised sales visit from their local farmer is quite nice for customers.
At the same time, we will start marketing into the farmer's location telling the farmers story and letting people know that the farmers is launching soon.
Once the farmer has their base customers set up. We don't expect they will not need to be constantly looking for more customers.
Our App tells the farmer milk levels and usage data so they can plan deliveries. When more than one farmer supplies a region the app will coordinate the deliveries between the farmers.
Farmers will have to pay for the routine milk testing, but this is accounted for in the price they receive. All audits etc are covered by Happy Cow.
The milk is non homoginised and not standardised. But it is pasteurised.
Each tank has a stirrer inside that run for a set period of time every hour. This keeps the milk well agitated and is cooled uniformly.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 19-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Ok yeh I wasn't aware the assumption was they they will have an additional staff memeber. I was sceptical this would make financial sense but at $1.50L instead of $0.50c it pays for the staff member easily by the looks.
Posted on 16-07-2021 by peterThanks for your response. Just following up on my earlier query regarding how the tanks are filled. So the tanks are required to be filled while milking is occurring? If so, won’t this require an additional resource on farm to fill and change up to 60 tanks while somebody milks?
Or can they be filled by drawing from a vat?
Posted on 16-07-2021 by peterHi there,
I guess you are wondering what is the workload involved for the farmer?
If we use our example farmer who is processing and selling 1,000 litres of milk per day. They will need to have a full-time person who will clean tanks, processing milk and deliver the tanks to retail outlets.
But if a farmer is selling less milk it's possible that the framer will not need additional staff. But it's important to note that although we have automated and taken much of the regulatory burden off the operator. They still need to be monitoring the filling, processing and cooled etc.
The hub can be set up to fill from the raw milk line while milking or from a storage vat.
I hope that answers your question?
Glen
Answered on 16-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi there, how do you anticipate transportation of the product to retailers to be achieved? Is this an expense incurred by the buyer or the seller?
When you talk about cafes, school etc, these less accessible on farms that are further from towns and cities - do you have a region/space you are targeting?
Hi Chris,
The farmer is responsible for the delivery of the tanks to the retailers/cafe's. The farmer can use their standard farm truck our tanks will stay cold during transport.
Our model is local farmers supplying their local communities. So for most farmers, there will not be a great deal of travel. In our model, we have assumed a farmer will complete a 100km round trip every day and they will conduct 4-5 deliveries per day.
This will be different in larger cities such as Auckland. In this case, farmers may deliver to central a drop off point and crowdsourced delivery drivers will complete the actual deliveries to the final retailer.
These are things we will experiment with during the next year.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 15-07-2021 by Glen Herud
So if a farmer is also supplying another processor, are they going to follow the happy cow farming principles for their whole herd/farming operation or only for a small segment of their herd that supplies happy cow while the remainder of the herd is farmed differently? How will this be monitored and how will infringements to happy cow principles be handled?
Posted on 14-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonAt this early stage, we're asking that only the cows that supply Happy Cow Milk will follow our farming principles.
We're open with everyone including customers about this.
Farmers will decide how big they want their Happy Cow business to be and how many cows are needed. But all Happy Cow milk will be produced according to our core principles.
How do we know for sure that a farmer is following our principles?
We (Happy Cow) and the farmer will be sharing what's going on on the farm. It will be pretty hard to fudge it. They certainly won't get it past us.
We're open with farmers right from the start of what is expected, we don't expect any infringement. If their heart is not in it and they don't like our principles, then we'd rather they don't sign up.
I've often said that many of the Happy Cow farmers of the future are not actually dairy farming at the moment. We're quite happy setting up farmers from scratch if we need to.
But we don't expect to have to do that, we have plenty of dairy farmers on our waitlist.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Can the farmers also supply Fonterra or other “conventional” factory?
What happens to excess milk that’s unsold? Is it dumped? Does the farmer still get paid for it?
Posted on 14-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonHi Logan,
Yes, farmers can supply other processors if they like. Most of the farmers we are talking to are currently supplying Fonterra or Synlait.
Your question relates to one of the biggest and underappreciated issues that farmers supplying the consumer market face. That is matching fluctuating supply of milk with fluctuating demand for milk. It's quite hard to manage both.
Farmers do not want to be throwing milk away.
The farmer is able to monitor the milk levels of all the tanks that are attached to dispensers. They can also see usage data and predict when each customer will need more tanks.
Eventually, our system will automatically run these predictions and as time goes on they will become more accurate.
At present, the farmer can see what demand is there from their Happy Cow business and they can plan how much raw milk they put into the Happy Cow tanks. There shouldn't be any unsold Happy Cow milk but farmers will have to manage their raw milk.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi - great venture!
just wondered if you had thought of offering farmers a low-capital option where you would retain ownership of the plant on the farms and charge the farmers an infrastructure fee - this would make it easier for farmers to say yes, create an additional income stream for the company and ensure the quality of the plant is maintained ie you retain more quality control?
Secondly, how are you going to maintain control over hygiene and milk quality in the supply chain?
Hi Jeff,
Those are things we will investigate further once we are operating. We want to make it easy for farmers to sign up.
But a core part of the Happy Cow model is that we (Happy Cow Mik Co) needs to be able to expand and grow by adding farmers without having to invest heavily in capital equipment.
The setup costs will be around $100,000 to $150,000. This is quite a lot of money, but farmers are often able to borrow against their land. The investment in the equipment then enables the farmer to increase their revenue from $0.50/litre to $1.41/litre. Banks quite like lending on things that make the business more viable.
But we have not made our minds up exactly how we do this. We will see how things go in the next 2 years.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
3 Questions:
1. I'm assuming this system will be heavily reliant on internet connectivity between devices, suppliers and consumers. What precautions will there be against cyber threats taking the system off line and making the system inoperable?
2. How does the HCM system differentiate itself from the vending machines already dispensing milk at the farm gate or food markets?
3. Has the company considered the possibility of bio-security threats, malicious or otherwise and issues of vandalism of equipment by groups against milk use and animal cruelty (I understand the happy cow message to help guard against this, however I understand this has been an issue with some vending machines)?
Posted on 13-07-2021 by SteveThanks, Steve.
1. Yes connectivity is crucial. The next phase of development will be to ensure each component can operate in an "offline" mode and transmit data when connectivity is regained.
Being hacked is a real risk. Our developer Sam has been doing security for ISP's so we will have strong security measures. But we also assume we will be hacked. We will set up multiple backups operating on multiple servers. If we are hacked we can switch to our backups.
The hackers will be left with lots of tempriture & location data.
All the critical financial parts of the system will be handled by large companies like Stripe who have the resources to protect against hacking.
2. If you look at our website you will see a few pictures of our dispenser. It has been developed form the ground up by us. It is nothing like the existing dispensers on the market. It is modular, so it can be configured differently to suit different applications, such as cafe's, retail, schools and even a home delivery option. Having said that people don't really care how or what the dispenser looks like, they simply want it to work in the place that is convienent to them. On a side note, we have designed and built our own dispenser, we are essentially the manufacturer of them. For that reason our dispensers cost about $3000 to build. Current dispensers on the market cost $15,000 to $35,000 per unit.
The low cost of dispensers means we can have lots of them in market making it easier for customers to buy form them.
3. Vandalism or tampering with the dispenser is a possibility. I'm aware that dispensers on farms with can get damaged overnight etc. But in our application dispensers will be in public places like retailers, cafe's and schools etc. I'm not sure this will be a big issue for us.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
If I understand correctly, the farmers are to buy the milk processing tanks. What is the expected cost of this per tank? How many tanks would be required to be purchased to achieve your FY25 revenue target? How does this tank connect/receive the milk from an existing standard milking shed?
Posted on 13-07-2021 by peterHi Peter, Thanks for the questions.
Happy Cow will provide the farmers with tanks and a processing hub at cost price. Our goal is for the tanks including electronics etc to cost $1,500 NZD each. We are being conservative and assuming a farmer selling 1,000 litres per day will need 60 tanks.
The cost of the tanks and processing hub will be paid by the farmers and will depend on how much milk they sell. But assuming the example we used in the IM of a farmer selling 1000 litres per day, the cost will be approximately $150,000. The farmers repay period will be around 1.5 years.
By FY25 we are budgeting to have 37 farmers selling 1,000 litres per day.
The milk processing hub has a standard milk line fitting and will attach to the farmers existing raw milk line. The hub is fitted with milk filters etc and the tanks fill automatically. The tanks have a level senor that ensures they are not overfilled.
The system is being designed to be fast and efficient for the farmer.
I hope that helps.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 13-07-2021 by Glen Herud
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Followers 45
Followers of Happy Herd Milk Company (T/A Happy Cow Milk)
Happy Herd Milk Company (T/A Happy Cow Milk)
Caring, Kinder, Fairer Dairy.
In 2018, Glen Herud was ready to throw in the towel on his mission to create an ethical and sustainable dairy model; his tight-knit community of supporters were not. Today, thanks to the immense support received from people who believed and invested in Glen’s vision, we are finally ready to bring our innovative “milk factory in a box” to market.
Happy Cow Milk is here to revolutionise the way we do dairy, creating a caring, kinder, and fairer industry. We have built a platform that enables dairy farmers to supply ethical and sustainable milk to their local community. Essentially, we’ve designed the entire milk processing and distribution system so that anyone can economically farm, sell or buy Happy Cow Milk.
Our story is only just beginning. A story that would not have been possible without our loyal community. Now, more than ever, we need your help to continue to write it.
Happy Cow Milk is an investment in doing dairy differently. If we don’t make the changes, who will?
The Problem
As most people are aware, the current practices of the dairy industry are having detrimental impacts on our environment.
The dairy industry has been undergoing an extensive shift for years now, with 54% of dairy farms closing down all over the world between 2000 and 2014, eliminating smaller family farms, and replacing them with large-scale, intensive production farms.
Why do we need family farms? Family farms have a unique culture, exhibiting sensible farming practices, community, family values, long-term thinking, connection, and trust. In combination, these attributes are the key to a sustainable future for agriculture.
Our Solution
Happy Cow’s milk processing system bypasses the complex milk supply chain to allow farmers to sell directly to customers.
It all starts with filling our smart internet-connected micro pasteuriser tanks with milk, which are then pasteurised in a hub, better known as our ‘Milk Factory in a Box’. The technology behind the Happy Cow Milk system takes care of all the food safety regulations automatically, which can be monitored through the Farmer App.
Anyone can be a retailer of Happy Cow Milk, from schools, to workplaces, to grocery stores, to cafés. Cafés can also host a tank of their own to benefit from packaging-free milk. Additionally, dispensers can opt to sell through home delivery, via the reseller app, using a mode of transport of their choice.
Customers find dispensers through the Customer app, bringing their own clean bottles to fill up. Payments are processed through the same app, distributing a share of the sale to the farmer and retailer immediately. The app also gives consumers the unique opportunity to see exactly where their milk has come from, and to communicate directly with the farmer.
Participants from each stage of the supply chain are coordinated through Happy Cow software and hardware, creating a seamless distribution process from start to finish.
Read more about how our milk processing system works in our Information Memorandum.
Our Impact
Our footprint on the world has the potential to extend far beyond positive environmental impacts. Happy Cow Milk’s business model has the ability not only to substantially reduce carbon emissions and plastic waste, but to positively influence consumers and producers too. Consumers can purchase their milk guilt-free at an affordable price, knowing that their actions are making a difference. Producers can increase their revenue by 130%, forming positive long-term connections with their customers. The result? Community.
The Journey so far...
Since its inception in 2015, Happy Cow Milk has achieved a great deal to get where we are today. None of what we have accomplished would have been possible without our incredibly supportive crowd, and our progress has been accelerated by the overwhelming response we received from our first equity crowdfunding campaign.
Since our first crowdfunding round, we have hit these major milestones:
Happy Cow Milk has been recognised in a number of forums and we've been fortunate to have our work profiled in a number of places. Here's a few of our favourites:
● We were thrilled to win two awards at the Food, Fibre & Agriculture Supernode Challenge: read about the recognition here (our blog post) & here (the AgResearch + UC release). (May 2021)
● Packaging-free milk is flowing at Saltworks Coworking Space (May 2021)
● 'Canterbury farmer reaches crowdfunding target for 'kinder, greener, fairer dairy' system' (November 2019)
● 'Dairy doesn't have to be like this: Happy Cow 2.0 looks for a better way' (November 2019)
What's next?
The next phase in the Happy Cow journey is scaling around the country. We intend to invest heavily in growth in order to replicate our core transaction as many times as possible and earn the benefits of scale. If all goes to plan, Happy Cow Milk will be fully profitable by 2023, beginning to roll out to commercial full-scale farmers.
The versatility of our platform will allow us not only to expand across New Zealand, but to take share of any milk market in the world. All we have to do is replicate micro milk communities by enabling local farmers, giving our business model huge global potential.
We hope in the future to return financial value to our shareholders in the form of dividends. We are here to make a difference and not a quick buck so we don't have plans to sell the company. This may be an option we'll consider down the track.
Where are our funds going?
We’ve got big plans for caring, kinder, fairer dairy and we can’t do it alone.
The equity crowdfund will allow us to:
1. Launch a trial unit in Christchurch (i.e. pilot farm)
2. Develop our software and hardware, ready to scale up in 2022
3. Scale up on production of hubs and tanks
Growth for Happy Cow is expensive, yet incredibly essential in order to achieve the desired environmental and community impact. These early investments will allow Happy Cow Milk to begin working with farms in 2022, and, as the number of farms onboard grows, the benefits of scale will expand exponentially.
The Financials
Our Offer:
We are offering up to 666,667 shares at $3.00 each. The minimum total amount required to be raised under this offer is $500,001 (166,667 shares).
Where we're heading...
For a more detailed breakdown of our financial commentary, information and projections, see our Information Memorandum.
Our Crowd
A key feature to Happy Cow Milk’s evolution and success has been the strength and support of you; our passionate crowd.
The messages we receive everyday confirm that consumers are ready for a kinder, greener, fairer alternative. You are long-term thinkers; people who know that real change takes time and there are no shortcuts to building something that will change the world. Without you, Happy Cow Milk wouldn’t exist today.
Our first round of equity crowdfunding in 2019 sold out in just eight hours and many keen investors missed out. That’s why, now that it’s time to raise funds for the next phase of scaling up, we’re coming back to the crowd who have supported and believed in this idea from the beginning.
Together, we’re transforming a business into a mooovement!
Join us, to become a part of the Happy Cow family today...
Meet the Team
Glen Herud
Founder
Glen has been working to find a way to do kinder, greener, fairer dairy since 2015. He will oversee the development of the “milk factory in a box”, use the power of the crowd to find retail outlets for the trial and set Happy Cow Milk up to scale.
David Trought
Technical Co-founder
David has joined as the technical co-founder and shareholder. David is a mechanical engineer who has worked with Glen to develop all the hardware components of the Happy Cow System. His experience ranges from large agricultural systems to consumer products - and he’s needed that full breadth of experience to bring Happy Cow's revolutionary system to life.
A Note from PledgeMe
We have completed Veda checks on the company, Happy Herd Milk Company Limited, and its Directors, as well as Google and Insolvency checks. In the Google search, there were two articles found on the Director's previous company going into liquidation. There were no adverse findings.
We've reached $500K!
05/08/2021 at 8:03 PM
THANK YOU! Thanks to 541 investors, we are delighted to announce that we've hit our minimum target of $500K. This means that we'll be able to continue the Happy Cow Milk mission of bringing kinder, greener, fairer dairy to Aotearoa New Zealand (and, in time, further afield!).
With four days left of the campaign, there's still time for you to join us as a shareholder of Happy Cow Milk - so, if you're someone who has been watching from the sidelines, now is the time to invest in the future of dairy and a team of dedicated people.
For now - thank you for your support. A key feature to Happy Cow Milk’s evolution and success has been the strength and support of you; our passionate crowd. Without you, Happy Cow Milk wouldn’t exist today - and we thank every single one of you who have invested, shared and cheered us on since 2018.
Together, we can do dairy differently.
Cheers, Glen.
One week to go!
02/08/2021 at 8:48 PM
Kia ora koutou,
Today (Monday, 2nd August) marks seven days left of the Happy Cow crowdfunding campaign - and we're so thrilled to see the support of 474 of you that have invested! Thank you and welcome onboard; it's thanks to people like you that we're here, persisting, to change dairy for the better.
Right now though, we need your help to reach the $500K threshold; for the campaign to succeed (and for Happy Cow to continue) this is the minimum that we need to raise. We would love your help in spreading the word about the campaign; can you tell two people today about how you’re helping to change dairy in Aotearoa?
If you (or your friends) are wanting to know more about the revolutionary system that we've built, we've got heaps of Q&As included under that tab - and there are more on our social media channels as well. Feel free to also message us directly; we're always happy to have a chat.
This Thursday at 8pm we've got a webinar happening titled 'Is Dairy Broken?'; join us online for a wide ranging discussion with some real life dairy farmers (details & the link are on our Facebook page).
Thank you for your ongoing support - we're looking forward to working with you to bring the next phase of Happy Cow Milk to life!
Cheers, Glen & the team
Dairy popping up everywhere in the news this week.
28/07/2021 at 12:35 PM
- Reducing the number of cows required to deliver milk profitably (mitigating intensification and it's highly negative impacts, including flow on effects for soil and water quality and carbon emissions)
- Improving animal welfare (keeping calves with their mums and reducing the pressure placed on high intensity production)
- Eliminating packaging from the process (through the use of our dispenser, which is used from the collection of milk, the pasteurisation, through to dispensing it)
- Raising the profit that farmers make (by decentralising dairy) reduces pressure on farmers
We're 60% funded!
19/07/2021 at 11:27 AM
Thank you! It's been a fantastic start to the campaign - more than 300 of you have joined us as owners and shareholders of Happy Cow Milk. Nau mai, haere mai. It's thanks to people like you that we're here, persisting, to change dairy for the better. It's so encouraging to read the comments our investors make when they pledge.
I’m pleased to see so many of our past investors return and investing even more this time. We also have a lot of new first time investors who have only recently heard about us and our mission.
I'll be hosting a live Q&A on Wednesday at 8pm to answer any questions you have about our latest crowdfunding round or our plans for the future.
I’d like to share more detail about the Happy Cow Milk business and financial model. We've have taken insights from businesses like Uber and AirBnB and applied them to the milk business. In doing so, we’ve created a model that can scale ethical dairy around the world.
Webinar link for Youtube
Webinar link for Facebook
Thanks for your support!
Glen
Offer Details
| Current Valuation | 5,250,000 |
| Raise Minimum | 500,001 |
| Raise Maximum | 2,000,000 |
| Share Price | 3.00 |
| Minimum Pledge | 102.00 |
| Maximum Shares Offered | 666,667 |
Explanation of valuation:
Our pre-raise valuation of $5,250,000 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 $ | NZ $111,783 | NZ $1,492,618 | NZ $8,620,009 |
| Operating Expenses | NZ $ | NZ $666,980 | NZ $634,987 | NZ $1,511,487 |
| EBITDA | NZ $ | NZ $0 | NZ $0 | NZ $0 |
| Net Profit | NZ $ | -NZ $869,886 | -NZ $935,670 | -NZ $1,363,748 |
Company Details
Company Name: Happy Herd Milk Company Limited
Company Number: 7038037
Company Documents
Director Details
| Name | Role | Profile URL | Invested? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Herud | Director, Founder | http://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-herud-7abb192b/detail/recent-activity/posts/ | ✔ |
What happens if the next round of funding isn't reached? Meaning, there will be other share offers as mentioned in one of your Youtube talks at a later date (as most startups do to keep running/developing until they have revenue and positive cash flow) what will happen to the developed technology if the company has to be liquidated?
I know we all like to be positive that this will work, however I'm also aware this can end up over iterations of companies as funding fails and the tech is passed on/sold to a new entity and work continues. I see Happy Cow Milk as a Tech company building a platform, not a milk company. As a shareholder owning a % of the assets, technology that is developed, what do I get if the technology (patents etc) is sold to a new company?
How many more funding rounds are expected to be required over the next 3 years?
Posted on 05-08-2021 by SteveHi Sorry for the slow response, I missed your question.
We are a startup and startups are risky. We will need more money in the future. We need to execute on our plan in order to be able to raise the next round.
We will need to show that we are selling milk and the technology and farmers, retailers and customers want what we are offering.
We can do almost all those things now.
Our mission is to make dairy better and we do that by building tech that enables "good farmers" to win in a commercial world where "bad farmers" often win due to greater efficiency or path to market etc.
Our mission is not to build a tech company that we can sell. We are here to drive our mission as far as we can.
Whatever happens, all shareholders have the same rights to dividends and share of excess assets, etc and are treated equally to me (the founder).
If you know the Happy Cow story, you will know I'm fully aware of how a business can fail. It's the previous failure that has given us insight into what we are building here.
I hope that goes some way to answering your question.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 07-08-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi Guys,
Are these shares voting shares with full rights?
Hi Maurice
These shares are non-voting shares. Shareholders have the right to an equal share of dividends and assets etc.
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.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 04-08-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi, I love the concept of Happy Cow and am interested in investing as a potential farmer. Just wondering what the intent is with the cow and calf policy around milking time (i.e. Going to and from the shed) or are you planning to also roll out your mobile milking platform for farmers?
Posted on 04-08-2021 by Henry MarchantHi Henry
Mobile milking is not a requirement but it will suit some farmers. We're happy to work with any farmer and whatever milking shed they have.
We think a cow and calf system is the best way forward for dairy, so we're not going to drop that policy. But we're happy to work with farmers to get there using whatever equipment they have.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 04-08-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi, just a few animal related questions.
Are you able to show me a picture of the weaning “flap” that is clamped onto the calves’ noses? Is it one of the sharp spikey ones I’ve seen somewhere before? That pricks the cows udder, causing pain, when the calf tries to drink?
What happens to the calves that are not needed as replacements in the milking herd after they are weaned and more emotionally distant from their mothers?
If the calf drinks about half or more of the cow’s milk each day, wouldn’t you need more than 50 cows to be able to produce the 1000lt in your model? Then what happens to the excess milk once the calves are weaned?
If a farmer supplies Happy Cow and another factory, I assume they’ll still probably send Bobby’s from the large portion of their herd that isn’t necessarily following the happy cow way?
Posted on 31-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonLol. No, it's not the spikey ones. I'm sure you've googled it.
Short answer, we're happy to work with farmers who share our vision of a more caring, kinder and fairer dairy.
There are lots of methods and ways of doing things. There are lots of variables around production etc.
We'll work with farmers to set up a system and practices that work for them.
These farmers will be sharing what they do with their customers. Their customers will let the farmer and us know if they are unhappy with the farmer's practices.
At the end of the day, we are giving farmers who believe in our vision, that chance to gain a competitive advantage over their competition. The result is these farmers with high animal welfare practices will have viable long term businesses and we achieve our goals of more caring, kinder & fairer dairy.
Answered on 01-08-2021 by Glen Herud
How do the shares from the previous raise fit into this? Cheers
Posted on 30-07-2021 by Matthew BarnettHi Matthew
Those shareholders are still shareholders. We are issuing new shares for this round. That means that all existing shareholders (including me) get diluted to some degree.
The shares were $1/share last round and this time round the shares are being sold for $3/share. This is due to the progress we have made to date.
I hope that helps :)
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 30-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi are the baby bobby calves still removed from their mothers. And what happens to the majority of them (not the minority kept)
I’m yet to see a cow happy when her calf is taken. So I’m presuming all calves are kept for at least a full year of milking. If not how can these cows be happy? And therefore this will be a breach of the Advertising Standards Authority due to misleading advertising which is also in breach of the Fair Trading Act
Hi Roy
An explanation of our calf policy can be found here https://happycowmilk.co.nz/happy-cow-way/
In short all calves, male or female. Stay with their mothers until they are weaned at about 100kgs. Normally about 8-10 weeks of age.
A happy cow is all about how it feels. So we want to encourage the cow and calf to separate but on their own free will. So we propose the "fenceline method" which is explained on the link above.
LOL, it would be interesting to see if a court can rule on what a happy cow is. I'd be happy to defend that. :)
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 30-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Are the cows still separated from their offspring in this model?
Posted on 20-07-2021 by Penny DeaneHi Penny
We believe calves should stay with their mothers until weaning. Both male and female calves.
We cover a few of them here https://happycowmilk.co.nz/happy-cow-way/
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 20-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi, how did you arrive at your valuation of $7,250,000 with projected overall losses in the next 4 years and proof of concept not yet complete? Can you explain your methodology?
Posted on 20-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonHi
The valuation is $5,250,000 pre money. Its only $7,250,000 if we raise $2,000,000 in cash.
The valuation is based on what we've built to date. Combined with what's the companies potential is and the likely hood it will execute.
We're building a hardware and software platform that can scale anywhere in the world without us having to open an office there.
This platform offers huge value to farmers because it reduces processing, sales and distribution workload dramatically. It also doubles their revenue.
The platform offers customers a product at a reasonable price that they normally have to pay a premium for.
When we put this together, Happy Cow Milk Co can move into any market and take market share as we have a product with superior animal welfare and environmental attributes than the competition. And in most cases, the retail price will be lower than similar competitors.
Most importantly we can do this in a low-cost way which means we retain a margin and profitability.
If we can have 500 farmers around the world, each with 50-70 cows. Happy Cow Milk Co will have a revenue of approximately $60,000,000 per year.
We will have a staff of just 100.
This has the potential to be a very profitable company.
But the unique thing about this business, is we are using all this innovation to ensure we create a better dairy industry and not necessarily the most money.
This is a unique combination of skills and motivations. I'm comfortable justifying that valuation.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 20-07-2021 by Glen Herud
For the home delivery model, will the customer pay an additional delivery fee or is the delivery operator required to cover that cost out of their $0.50?
Posted on 19-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonTraditional home delivery is really costly for the delivery driver. Our home delivery model is similar to Uber Eats. Anyone in the community can be a delivery person. Our app coordinates the orders and deliveries.
The delivery person is the retailer in this situation and they receive the retail portion of the transaction ($0.50).
It's possible that the delivery people will require a greater amount of money but it wouldn't be an additional $0.50. I'd expect home-delivered milk to be no more than $0.20 more than our standard retail price.
Glen
Answered on 19-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Does the farmer have to do any sales/marketing/advertising? Or, does Happy Cow do all of this and the farmer only has to deliver the milk to where they're instructed to via the app?
Does the farmer have to pay for any compliance/audit costs from their share?
If the milk in non homogonised, are the individual tanks stirred/agitated?
Posted on 19-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonHi Logan
Happy Cow Milk will always be telling farmers stories and marketing in general.
But the farmer and their farm is the real story. So we encourage the farmers to be actively involved from the start.
The way I envisage it working is a farmer who wants to set up in their town or city will get in touch with us.
We will then give them the marketing material and advice and ask the farmer to approach some retailers, cafe's schools etc.
We do this because people want to buy from their local farmer and getting a personalised sales visit from their local farmer is quite nice for customers.
At the same time, we will start marketing into the farmer's location telling the farmers story and letting people know that the farmers is launching soon.
Once the farmer has their base customers set up. We don't expect they will not need to be constantly looking for more customers.
Our App tells the farmer milk levels and usage data so they can plan deliveries. When more than one farmer supplies a region the app will coordinate the deliveries between the farmers.
Farmers will have to pay for the routine milk testing, but this is accounted for in the price they receive. All audits etc are covered by Happy Cow.
The milk is non homoginised and not standardised. But it is pasteurised.
Each tank has a stirrer inside that run for a set period of time every hour. This keeps the milk well agitated and is cooled uniformly.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 19-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Ok yeh I wasn't aware the assumption was they they will have an additional staff memeber. I was sceptical this would make financial sense but at $1.50L instead of $0.50c it pays for the staff member easily by the looks.
Posted on 16-07-2021 by peterThanks for your response. Just following up on my earlier query regarding how the tanks are filled. So the tanks are required to be filled while milking is occurring? If so, won’t this require an additional resource on farm to fill and change up to 60 tanks while somebody milks?
Or can they be filled by drawing from a vat?
Posted on 16-07-2021 by peterHi there,
I guess you are wondering what is the workload involved for the farmer?
If we use our example farmer who is processing and selling 1,000 litres of milk per day. They will need to have a full-time person who will clean tanks, processing milk and deliver the tanks to retail outlets.
But if a farmer is selling less milk it's possible that the framer will not need additional staff. But it's important to note that although we have automated and taken much of the regulatory burden off the operator. They still need to be monitoring the filling, processing and cooled etc.
The hub can be set up to fill from the raw milk line while milking or from a storage vat.
I hope that answers your question?
Glen
Answered on 16-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi there, how do you anticipate transportation of the product to retailers to be achieved? Is this an expense incurred by the buyer or the seller?
When you talk about cafes, school etc, these less accessible on farms that are further from towns and cities - do you have a region/space you are targeting?
Hi Chris,
The farmer is responsible for the delivery of the tanks to the retailers/cafe's. The farmer can use their standard farm truck our tanks will stay cold during transport.
Our model is local farmers supplying their local communities. So for most farmers, there will not be a great deal of travel. In our model, we have assumed a farmer will complete a 100km round trip every day and they will conduct 4-5 deliveries per day.
This will be different in larger cities such as Auckland. In this case, farmers may deliver to central a drop off point and crowdsourced delivery drivers will complete the actual deliveries to the final retailer.
These are things we will experiment with during the next year.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 15-07-2021 by Glen Herud
So if a farmer is also supplying another processor, are they going to follow the happy cow farming principles for their whole herd/farming operation or only for a small segment of their herd that supplies happy cow while the remainder of the herd is farmed differently? How will this be monitored and how will infringements to happy cow principles be handled?
Posted on 14-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonAt this early stage, we're asking that only the cows that supply Happy Cow Milk will follow our farming principles.
We're open with everyone including customers about this.
Farmers will decide how big they want their Happy Cow business to be and how many cows are needed. But all Happy Cow milk will be produced according to our core principles.
How do we know for sure that a farmer is following our principles?
We (Happy Cow) and the farmer will be sharing what's going on on the farm. It will be pretty hard to fudge it. They certainly won't get it past us.
We're open with farmers right from the start of what is expected, we don't expect any infringement. If their heart is not in it and they don't like our principles, then we'd rather they don't sign up.
I've often said that many of the Happy Cow farmers of the future are not actually dairy farming at the moment. We're quite happy setting up farmers from scratch if we need to.
But we don't expect to have to do that, we have plenty of dairy farmers on our waitlist.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Can the farmers also supply Fonterra or other “conventional” factory?
What happens to excess milk that’s unsold? Is it dumped? Does the farmer still get paid for it?
Posted on 14-07-2021 by Logan JohnsonHi Logan,
Yes, farmers can supply other processors if they like. Most of the farmers we are talking to are currently supplying Fonterra or Synlait.
Your question relates to one of the biggest and underappreciated issues that farmers supplying the consumer market face. That is matching fluctuating supply of milk with fluctuating demand for milk. It's quite hard to manage both.
Farmers do not want to be throwing milk away.
The farmer is able to monitor the milk levels of all the tanks that are attached to dispensers. They can also see usage data and predict when each customer will need more tanks.
Eventually, our system will automatically run these predictions and as time goes on they will become more accurate.
At present, the farmer can see what demand is there from their Happy Cow business and they can plan how much raw milk they put into the Happy Cow tanks. There shouldn't be any unsold Happy Cow milk but farmers will have to manage their raw milk.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
Hi - great venture!
just wondered if you had thought of offering farmers a low-capital option where you would retain ownership of the plant on the farms and charge the farmers an infrastructure fee - this would make it easier for farmers to say yes, create an additional income stream for the company and ensure the quality of the plant is maintained ie you retain more quality control?
Secondly, how are you going to maintain control over hygiene and milk quality in the supply chain?
Hi Jeff,
Those are things we will investigate further once we are operating. We want to make it easy for farmers to sign up.
But a core part of the Happy Cow model is that we (Happy Cow Mik Co) needs to be able to expand and grow by adding farmers without having to invest heavily in capital equipment.
The setup costs will be around $100,000 to $150,000. This is quite a lot of money, but farmers are often able to borrow against their land. The investment in the equipment then enables the farmer to increase their revenue from $0.50/litre to $1.41/litre. Banks quite like lending on things that make the business more viable.
But we have not made our minds up exactly how we do this. We will see how things go in the next 2 years.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
3 Questions:
1. I'm assuming this system will be heavily reliant on internet connectivity between devices, suppliers and consumers. What precautions will there be against cyber threats taking the system off line and making the system inoperable?
2. How does the HCM system differentiate itself from the vending machines already dispensing milk at the farm gate or food markets?
3. Has the company considered the possibility of bio-security threats, malicious or otherwise and issues of vandalism of equipment by groups against milk use and animal cruelty (I understand the happy cow message to help guard against this, however I understand this has been an issue with some vending machines)?
Posted on 13-07-2021 by SteveThanks, Steve.
1. Yes connectivity is crucial. The next phase of development will be to ensure each component can operate in an "offline" mode and transmit data when connectivity is regained.
Being hacked is a real risk. Our developer Sam has been doing security for ISP's so we will have strong security measures. But we also assume we will be hacked. We will set up multiple backups operating on multiple servers. If we are hacked we can switch to our backups.
The hackers will be left with lots of tempriture & location data.
All the critical financial parts of the system will be handled by large companies like Stripe who have the resources to protect against hacking.
2. If you look at our website you will see a few pictures of our dispenser. It has been developed form the ground up by us. It is nothing like the existing dispensers on the market. It is modular, so it can be configured differently to suit different applications, such as cafe's, retail, schools and even a home delivery option. Having said that people don't really care how or what the dispenser looks like, they simply want it to work in the place that is convienent to them. On a side note, we have designed and built our own dispenser, we are essentially the manufacturer of them. For that reason our dispensers cost about $3000 to build. Current dispensers on the market cost $15,000 to $35,000 per unit.
The low cost of dispensers means we can have lots of them in market making it easier for customers to buy form them.
3. Vandalism or tampering with the dispenser is a possibility. I'm aware that dispensers on farms with can get damaged overnight etc. But in our application dispensers will be in public places like retailers, cafe's and schools etc. I'm not sure this will be a big issue for us.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 14-07-2021 by Glen Herud
If I understand correctly, the farmers are to buy the milk processing tanks. What is the expected cost of this per tank? How many tanks would be required to be purchased to achieve your FY25 revenue target? How does this tank connect/receive the milk from an existing standard milking shed?
Posted on 13-07-2021 by peterHi Peter, Thanks for the questions.
Happy Cow will provide the farmers with tanks and a processing hub at cost price. Our goal is for the tanks including electronics etc to cost $1,500 NZD each. We are being conservative and assuming a farmer selling 1,000 litres per day will need 60 tanks.
The cost of the tanks and processing hub will be paid by the farmers and will depend on how much milk they sell. But assuming the example we used in the IM of a farmer selling 1000 litres per day, the cost will be approximately $150,000. The farmers repay period will be around 1.5 years.
By FY25 we are budgeting to have 37 farmers selling 1,000 litres per day.
The milk processing hub has a standard milk line fitting and will attach to the farmers existing raw milk line. The hub is fitted with milk filters etc and the tanks fill automatically. The tanks have a level senor that ensures they are not overfilled.
The system is being designed to be fast and efficient for the farmer.
I hope that helps.
Cheers
Glen
Answered on 13-07-2021 by Glen Herud
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I want to embed this investment somewhere
