A pair of former key figures at THG are set to appear on Dragons’ Den tonight.
Brothers Sean and Alex Brassill will be pitching Jnck Bakery, which stocked its healthy cookies in more than 500 Tesco stores and was part of the supermarket’s accelerator programme, to the regular Dragons and guest judge Tinie Tempah.
However when its products were delisted by Tesco less than a year later – after filming in the Den – it entered voluntary liquidation with ‘escalating’ debts of more than £250,000.
The firm had raised £800,000 including £260k from crowdfunding for the chewy cookies, which were in the fresh bakery section and were made using pea protein, prebiotic fibre and its own low-sugar chocolate.
Available in four flavours, the high-protein, low-sugar cookie brand launched in 2023 following two years of research.
The brothers told The Grocers that they bore no grudges against Tesco, which made up a massive percentage of its revenue, and that its Achilles’ Heel was the fact that their target market typically avoids the bakery section of supermarkets.
Sean Brassill is a former sales director at THG while his brother was group head of nutrition at the firm who formerly worked on the myprotein brand.
Sean, who worked at Accenture before co-founding Jnck Bakery, has served as regional sales director for new markets at tech firm Sona since his business closed.
Sona is described as an AI-powered platform that manages shifts, HR & payroll workflows, labour costs and team comms.
The brothers are now preparing to launch Lyte On, which is described as a ‘no bullshit electrolyte company’.
After closing Jnck Bakery, Alex wrote on LinkedIn: “After the most incredible five years, it is with a wide range of emotions that I share JNCK Bakery’s journey has come to an end.
“Having placed so much love and energy into the brand, there is naturally a huge sense of loss. JNCK became such a big part of our identity, and for many reasons we believed it would continue to flourish.
“It has been easy for my mind’s default position to focus on the ultimate and objective failure of the business. This has been, and will continue to be a difficult process.
“However, the achievements, experiences and personal growth over the past five years fill me with pride, gratitude and hope for the future. I believe this chapter will set me up for the rest of my career — and in some ways, life! I’d love to be able to spend an hour with the version of myself from November 2020 just setting out on this journey — I think he’d barely recognise me today (in mostly good ways!)
“And the honest truth is that if I’d been told five years ago, as I walked into my Mum and Dad’s kitchen for trial #8432949 on the JNCK recipe, that we’d achieve what we did, I’d have probably bitten your hand off. However, over the years, we started to gain confidence, and our ambition, hopes and dreams grew.
“We made good decisions running JNCK Bakery, and made mistakes. I believe it’s never been harder to succeed with a start-up brand in food and drink. Hats off to the incredible founders and brands I’ve met over the past five years who are making it happen. I hugely admire your continued focus, resilience and creativity.
“An undoubted highlight of the journey was winning a place on Tesco’s Accelerator scheme, less than 18 months after launching the brand. To be selected as the only bakery brand was a pinch-me moment. That 12 months was pivotal for us — an amazing experience, even if the outcome wasn’t what we’d hoped for.
“I can’t finish without saying thank you. Firstly, we assembled an incredible team who I learnt so much from, but more importantly built great friendships with.
“Many of our investors were family and friends who simply believed in us as people. This theme of support continued during the difficult conversations we’ve had over the past couple of weeks, and I’m so grateful for it.
“Thank you also to our customers and suppliers for believing in the product and our journey. And finally, to everyone who ever bought a JNCK cookie or messaged us with kind words — you made us smile and kept us going more than you know.”
“For now, it’s onwards and upwards. I’m genuinely excited for what comes next and am exploring new opportunities and challenges.
“Here’s to the next chapter.”