Why Thankyou Group is pulling its food range: “It feels hard, but it feels right”

A month ago, co-founder of consumer goods brand Thankyou, Daniel Flynn, was discussing the success of his social enterprise business model with President Barack Obama.

It was a humbling experience to be invited to the Obama Foundation’s inaugural conference on entrepreneurship, but Flynn tells SmartCompany it wasn’t long after returning to Australia that his business was making a significant decision to cut part of its operations, a change in pace he says reveals the “realities” of business.

“He was the nicest guy, so down to earth and grounded. And one thing that he said was that ‘change is hard’. It’s a simple statement, but it’s true. I’m there with Obama and then four weeks later we’re like, ‘well, now we’re pulling food’,” Flynn reflects.

In an open letter reflecting on the past year of operations, Flynn this week told to customers that the company has decided to scrap its food business, including cereals and snack foods, explaining the company’s products didn’t end up changing the food game as intended.

The decision to be frank with the struggling food business came down to the founders wanting to be up-front about the continued struggles that happen in business even once a brand has been established, he says. Read more

Emma Koehn - Smart Company - 8 Dec 2017