‘I felt numb’: How coffee capsule maker Podpac recovered after its biggest client collapsed and it was forced to let half its staff go

At the end of 2016, Toby Strong says his coffee capsule making business Podpac was in the “best place” it had ever been.

Sales were strong, and just months earlier, the business had made it onto the Smart50 Awards for the first time, securing 18th position thanks to a three-year revenue growth rate of 186%.

But in a matter of only weeks, Strong was staring down the prospect of losing his business completely.

Strong had only just returned to work after the Christmas and New Year break when he received a phone call from his largest customer, who informed him there were serious problems with their business.

“They were basically going insolvent and they owed us $500,000,” he tells SmartCompany.

When Strong founded Podpac in 2012, the business became the first Nespresso-compatible coffee pod producer in the Australian market. And until that fateful phone call in early 2017, he says 75% of the business involved packing coffee pods for other brands.

It meant Podpac relied on client contracts, just like the one that was about to disappear. Read more

Eloise Keating - Smart Company - 8 June 2018