A Sydney Start-Up Making Organic Groceries Affordable

Sprout Market is a subscription-based grocery service selling organic and natural products, delivered Australia-wide.

Paying $59.95 for a 12-month membership, customers get access to a range of products at wholesale prices.

Sprout co-founder Stanley Soon says the online store, which is based in Sydney, can offer cheaper prices than brick-and-mortar stores by eliminating “unnecessary price mark-ups by cutting out the middle man and adopting a direct-to-consumer approach.”

Soon, a Singaporean expat and self-described “health junkie”, was inspired by trips to Costco, the membership-based bulk retailer. “Visiting Costco was an eye-opening experience for me since I’m from a resource-scarce country, so everyday groceries such as fruits, vegetables and nuts have to be sourced from overseas,” he says.

He realised Australia lacked an affordable grocery service aimed at customers who wanted to buy ethical or healthy products. The organic offering at the big supermarkets was “disheartening”, he says. “Back then, I was living on a student budget. When deciding between a box of muesli retailing for $10 and the home brand, there was really no contest.”

Soon estimates that members can save anything between 16 and 60 per cent on products sold by Sprout. “On average, we have noticed that members usually earn back the cost of their membership fee within the first two to four orders and they save 22 per cent on their grocery bills,” he says. “If members don’t make up the membership fee [in terms of saving the same amount on reduced prices of the products] by the end of the year, we automatically credit the difference to them.”

Sprout caters for a range of diets including gluten-free, paleo, raw, and vegan, and offers baby and beauty products, homewares, and supplements. Items include Remedy Now kombucha, Tribeca X50’s broccoli chips, Loving Earth chocolate, Pukka tea and organic skincare company Wotnot’s range of baby products.

sproutmarket.com.au