How Zega Cookware went from prototype to international markets in under two years

Five key takeaways

1. Selling direct-to-consumer helps you build up an understanding of which marketing works, and how to increase conversions. That information makes it an easier sell to retail stores.

2. Start with recommendations when you’re looking to outsource, then find more options on top of that. Take the time to get a feel for each before making your decision.

3. When you’re not getting the results you need, move on and find another partner. You have options.

4. Be prepared to take on more risk and costs when exporting. Until it’s proven overseas, retailers will expect you to weather the costs of warehousing and shipping.

5. When selling in a different language, you need to completely redo all your marketing collateral and product information. This takes months to do properly, so plan ahead.

The six-person team at Zega Cookware spent years developing products for other cookware brands, including the Magic Bullet, before deciding to build their own company and launch a product themselves in 2019.

Having developed and shipped more than 20 million products for other brands, Zega already had the manufacturing, supply chain and logistics nailed down. Along the way Zega’s co-founders, Brendan and Con Dunne, have had to learn how to build a brand, market it, and sell it to potential distributors.

Trading as Zega Holdings, the company crowdfunded $114,000 through Indiegogo in 2020 to bring its prototype to production. Zega has since had successful market launches in Australia, and the US, with its product first hitting the Australian market at the end of 2020.

Zega sells a smart cooking device that’s sold in two versions: analogue, or electric and bluetooth-enabled. Both use thermos-like insulation, which the company says allows you to continue cooking for hours with only minutes of direct heat, letting you walk away from the stove. To complement the cookware, Zega also has an app featuring recipes and how-to cooking guides. 

Considering the company was founded in 2019, the fact that it has already scored a retail distribution deal with Italian giant Kasanova — which owns some 350 physical stores across the country, along with a television shopping channel — is an incredible achievement for an Australian startup.

Zega anticipates some $590,000 worth of retail sales this calendar year, tripling to $1.47 million the following.

But what’s involved with bringing your product to an overseas retail market? And how can you help smooth the transition?

SmartCompany Plus interviewed Brendan Dunne, co-founder and director, to take you behind the scenes and help you understand what to expect when working with large overseas retailers, and when moving from a B2B to B2C model.

Starting a B2C business

In the B2B space, your customers are typically professional and knowledgeable. Going direct to consumer, your customers are completely different, and need to be handled differently, Dunne has learnt.

When you sell B2B, you don’t have a relationship with the end customer. When you sell B2C, you own the entire customer journey.

“You understand who’s buying the product, what type of people they are, what they’re using it for, and you know a lot more about the end use than you would when selling B2B,” says Dunne.

The key is to feed that additional knowledge and customer data back into your product. You can tweak and update based on feedback from consumers, who know exactly what they want and need.

You also gain real-time validation of what sales and marketing works to secure conversions. In 10 months, Dunne says they’ve optimised the website a few times, and now have a better idea of what pricing works too.

One of the biggest improvements came from introducing a buy-now, pay-later option for customers, he says, which is something to consider if your business isn’t already offering it.

Zega Cookware co-founder and director Brendan Dunne.

Outsourcing and finding the right partners

Zega Cookware has a lean team of six, split across the globe.

Each handles multiple parts of the business, with their roles sometimes overlapping.

Of course, a six-person team couldn’t possibly handle everything involved with complex global supply chains and product launches in multiple countries at the same time, so they outsource different parts of their business.

Take Zega’s marketing and PR for example — Dunne started first with recommendations from investors and friends in the industry, then combed the internet to find a few more.

To find the right partner, they took video conference calls from the shortlisted companies to make sure there was a mental fit. Still, it’s trial and error. An early partner was dropped when the results just weren’t coming in, with another company given a chance instead. 

Similarly, it outsourced the design of its iPhone app to a software development team in India.

“You can outsource a lot of the heavy lifting, but you do need to take the time to oversee it,” says Dunne.

This means scheduling regular check-ins with your third-party teams, with clearly outlined goals and items to be completed each time, and the next meeting booked before you end the call.

That keeps projects moving, and all the players honest.

The realities of international retail sales

Zega Cookware first made contact with Kasanova some seven months ago. Zega’s director of sales of marketing in EMEA, Daniele Fuligno (who is also a shareholder, and advisory board member) introduced the product directly to the chief executive of Kasanova, Maurizio Ghidelli.

Fuligno was able to explain what Zega had learnt about its product, including conversions, marketing strategies, and what resonates with the customer, offering market proof that it was a product that didn’t just work well — it sold.

Dunne says that when you’re pitching to a large retailer, you need to make the purchase seem risk-free for them. That meant generating and sharing a large bank of marketing assets, too.

“It’s a process. If the retailer is interested, prepare for a lot of back and forth with questions,” says Dunne.

You also need to be prepared to take on that risk for them. Deals in which you’re not paid until the product is sold by the retailer in Italy are common, so don’t expect to be paid upfront after shipping.

But that’s not unique to Italy. Dunne notes that in the US, some retailers won’t even hold the stock in their warehouses. They can expect you to hold 10,000 items in your own warehouse, and will send an inspector around before they even consider marketing it.

In Zega’s case, the company once again turned to crowdfunding to cover the costs, this time through equity crowdfunding with VentureCrowd.

Localising a product

Zega also has to absorb the costs of translating all its marketing materials into Italian for the local market there.

That includes its apps across Apple and Android devices; its website; all the collateral around the product, packaging, manuals; and a collection of recipes that are appropriate for the Italian market.

It also had to hire Italian voice actors to re-record its videos, including local MasterChef contestants, and increase its production in China to meet the terms.

To top it off, the deal signed six months ago stipulates the first products need to arrive in Italy by September, to be sold by November 1, 2021. That’s a lot of work in half a year. 

But it’s also a joy, according to Dunne.

“It’s not sleepless nights, it’s exciting. For me and for us, it’s validation. It’s a lot of work, there are a lot of touch points that have to be managed, but overall it’s a big deal.

“If we can put the effort into making it work with a retailer of that scale in Italy, it gives the business a big story to take to other retailers.”