Sundays 🍪

Setting the Scene

• For over a century, Oreo has been the go-to cookie for millions of households.

• The cookie’s taste and versatility make it easy to get carried away, by:

  • Dunking dozens of cookies in milk to test the perfect ratio.🥛

  • Devouring half a batch of slutty brownies.👩‍🍳

  • Separating the cream from each cookie to make a sugar snowball. ❄️

• It’s all fun and games until the sugar rush kicks in. 🤯

• This week’s company has created a sugar-free version of the world’s most famous cookie.

  • We consumed two boxes while writing this feature, and we can confirm that there was no sugar high.

In a Sentence

Sundays makes creme cookies with zero sugar.

• Creme cookies: Reinvents the Oreo to cater to low-sugar, low-carb consumers.

• Zero sugar: Made from ingredients including allulose, almond flour, and whey protein to decrease carbs and increase protein of the best-selling cookie in the world.

The Basics

• Industry: CPG, food & beverage

• Headquarters: Victoria, BC, Canada 🇨🇦

• Year founded: 2020

• Employee count: 1 full-time and 6 part-time

• Investors: Spacestation Investments

• Funding amount: $375K pre-seed

• Currently raising: $1M

• Business model: DTC, wholesale direct, wholesale distribution

• Early traction: Raving customer reviews, 60% DTC gross margin, launched on Amazon and sold out in 8 days

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

• Gravity is an all-in-one data platform providing real-time insights on founders and startups to help you stay one step ahead of technology trends, funding insights, and company launches.

• Gravity’s proprietary FounderDNA™ feature tracks key founder characteristics such as prior exits, past experiences, and more in an easy-to-use dashboard.

• You can sign up here and access a 14 day free trial.

Due Diligence

WHAT WE LIKE

• 🍪 Filling a market need: The growth of the $5b sugar-free cookie market is driven by demands for cleaner, functional products and product innovation that sustains taste.

  • A massive market combined with Oreo’s outperforming customer retention metrics sets Sundays up for success.

• 🤩 Brand recognition: With bold, nostalgic packaging and familiar products, Sundays builds brand recall, which will help the company bring in repeat customers and launch new products.

• ⏰ Cookie timing: After Oreo Zero’s unsuccessful launch in China, the cookie giant will likely refrain from launching the zero-sugar alternative in new markets.

  • Sundays has an opportunity to create a leading sugar-free creme cookie in North America as Oreo invests elsewhere.

POTENTIAL RISKS

• 😳 Taking on the giant: It’s no easy task to recreate the well-funded, fan-favorite, and innovative cookie that brought in $4b in sales in 2022.

• 🛒 Crowded aisle: Sundays competes with health-focused cookie brands, creme cookie alternatives, and CPG conglomerates for high-demand shelf space.

• 🍳 Oreos for breakfast? Sundays must educate consumers on the nutritional benefits of its creme cookies to shift the connotation of the cookie from an indulgent dessert to a health-conscious snack.

Founder Profile

• Jody Polishchuk, CEO: Previously founded The Juice Box (acquired by Spud.com) and Yooga.

Comps

• Highkey: backed by Maximum Effort

• Catalina Crunch: backed by Blue Collective, Prehype

• LEOs: product of venture-backed Rip Van

📌 Bulletin Board

• 💬 Musk’s new venture: As if Tesla, Twitter, SpaceX, and The Boring Company wasn’t enough on the resumé, Musk is now launching X.AI to rival OpenAI.

  • Elon co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman in 2015 and recently signed a letter requesting a six-month pause in the development of AI systems.

• 🚔 Montana bans TikTok: Montana passed a bill that made it the first state to ban TikTok on all personal devices due to data safety and security concerns.

✍️ Written by Brett and Sam

🗣 SHARE THIS FEATURE 🔍 EXPLORE PAST FEATURES 🎙 PITCH US 📢 ADVERTISE