‘We Pushed It As Far As We Could Have’: Not Just Co. Shuts Down
After more than six years in business, modern pantry staple maker not just co. is shutting down.
Co-founder and CEO Catherine Smart announced on Substack this month that the brand would be winding down operations as the business became “pretty unmanageable from a working capital standpoint” over the past year.
Founded by Smart, a personal chef and food writer, alongside culinary instructor Jacqueline Grady Smith, the brand produced a variety of vegan products with unique flavor profiles, including 10 Veggies Pasta Sauce, Creamy Basil Pasta Sauce, Chili Lime Salad Dressing and Lemon Miso Salad Dressing, among others. Smart said the business was born out of the 10 veggie sauce she had been making for her personal chef clients.
At its peak, not just co. was available in approximately 600 doors nationwide, including Roche Bros, ShopRite and Fairway. The brand was focused on growing velocities in its existing accounts before expanding to others, though Smart noted this approach “happens slower when you don’t have the resources to match it.”
In 2023, not just co. landed two SKUs in 240 Super Target stores, marking its first pickup in the mass channel. Although the Boston-based company is grateful to the buyer who granted them the opportunity, the challenges of supporting the retail partnership destabilized the business.
“We went in eyes wide open, but just because you can get into Target doesn’t mean that you’re going to have the financial resources to support being at [the retail chain]. That, in some ways, was our undoing,” said Smart. “It’s one thing to bring these smaller brands in, but you have to give them the opportunity to survive and thrive.”
In total, not just co. raised $1.8 million in funding by taking in small checks at a time. Smart said that, if she were to do it over, she would raise a larger chunk of cash to start.
“We were constantly in fundraising mode and feeling the pressure of being resource-strapped. Playing defense all the time is a tough place to be,” she said.
When it “appeared there was no other option” due, in part, to a chunk of funding falling through last year as well as general investment headwinds, Smart and Grady Smith attempted to sell the business to deliver some value to investors. But the process took a mental toll on the founders.
“I think the most frustrating part to us was we were extremely transparent about the state of the business and the size of the business, yet we took dozens of meetings where people wanted samples and inevitably they all had the same feedback which was, ‘This is a great little brand, but it’s just too small for us,’” said Smart.
She continued, “If I had a plea for folks involved in rollups or small acquisitions, it would be that if [the company] is too small, the kindest thing you can do is not put founders through that.”
Not just co. is now looking to sell through its remaining inventory of shelf-stable pasta sauces, including its new “pièce de résistance,” Umami Magic, on its website. The founders will be hand packing the orders and covering the shipping cost for consumers. A 6-pack of 16 oz. jars has a SRP of $54.
Looking ahead, Smart will be diving back into food media “with both feet,” though she also wants to stay involved in the CPG community. Time will tell what the future holds, but for now, she says she will be on the sidelines rooting for small brands.
Smart’s biggest piece of advice for brands who find themselves in a tough situation? Don’t disregard your own needs as a founder and a human if things start to not work out.
“Realizing something just isn’t working is a tough call to make, especially when your hand is so close to your face you can’t see clearly. I feel really proud that we exhausted all options to try to make [not just co.] work. We definitely pushed it as far as we could have,” she said.
