Virgin StartUp of the week: Carpe Nux
Our Virgin StartUp of the week is Carpe Nux, founded by Juan Garcia Alvarez. Forget the sad salted peanuts of yore – Carpe Nux boasts innovative flavours with a luxury edge. They’ve already won a contract with Selfridges and have quickly established themselves as a premium snack brand. Let’s find out more!
We choose one Virgin StartUp company to be featured on Virginstartup.org each week. We ask our startups of the week to deliver the ultimate elevator pitch. What would they say if they had one minute in a lift with Sir Richard Branson? Please answer the questions below, keeping each answer to five sentences max.
Ground to floor 1 – Explain what your business does
Nuts, but not like you have seen them before – Carpe Nux offers a premium assortment of luxury-grade sweet and savoury nuts (no peanuts), supplying top-end retail and foodservice markets.
Floor 1 to 2 - Where are you based?
We are based in London, and our distribution is nation-wide.
Floor 2 to 3 – What’s the business model?
Maximize differentiation via produce quality and bespoke innovative flavours, creative branding and packaging that builds loyalty, and strong commercial partnerships targeting peckish sophisticated, discerning, and well-travelled palates.
Floor 3 to 4 – Who are your competitors?
A group of niche snack nut producers.
Floor 4 to 5 – What’s your USP?
We source only the finest tree nuts from around the world (no peanuts), internationally recognised for their excellent quality and grading standards. We innovate via our proprietary one-of-a kind all-natural flavours from across global cuisines offering a remarkably satisfying snack, which also pairs well with consumers’ favourite beverages and drinks. Handmade in small batches in England, suitable for vegetarians, and they're free from any artificial flavours, colours, and preservatives.
Floor 5 to 6 – Where did the idea come from?
For many years, I have been an avid fan of tree nuts, as they are a great healthy snack, but I found myself bored with the low quality and lack of innovation in the nuts offering. Through my travels, I discovered nuts’ real potential. Carpe Nux was then born to “raise the bar” in the nuts trade and offer a distinctive first-class snack, delighting consumers with each sumptuous bite of our nuts’ crunch.
Floor 6 to 7 – How much funding did you receive from Virgin StartUp?
£12,000
Floor 7 to 8 – How are you going to use it to grow your business?
The funding is fundamental to help us raise awareness and roll our brand to market via trade shows and promotional activities, as well as to cover key operational needs due to increasing demand.
Floor 8 to 9 – What’s your workspace like?
We are constantly on the move, between producing at our kitchen, introducing potential partners and customers to our range, and inviting consumers to savour samples of our fine nuts.
Floor 9 to 10 – Where will your business be in 12 month’s time?
In 12 months, we would love to have become the premium nut supplier of choice, known for a tasty snack that has a personality and status of its own!