Wonderland Ventures builds growth strategies for ambitious challenger businesses and brands in the food, drink and health and beauty sectors.
Typically, these businesses and brands are either at the forefront of new trends or they are making a difference in their categories but require help in their growth and development. Or they want to embrace new trends to better equip themselves for the future.
What we do
Drawing upon our extensive experience in retailing, branding and product development, we work with our Clients to help to develop bespoke strategies that fit with ever changing consumer needs, behaviours and lifestyles. These strategies are developed for enduring growth and success.
What we offer
We help with both big picture planning or with more specific challenges as one off projects.
Whichever one it is, your team will have access to two crucial benefits that underpin the success of the output:
Experience and know-how – our in depth knowledge of the UK’s health and lifestyle led food, drink, health, beauty and wellness sectors, spans the disciplines of retail strategies, product development and brand planning.
The latest trends and insights – owing to our experience working with challenger brands, particularly in the health and wellbeing sectors, we know exactly how and where to unearth the upcoming new trends and tastes and put them to highly effective use.
Our offer to our Clients reflects the deep-seated skills and expertise of our team. It includes three core operational essentials of business, product and brand planning.
Who we can help
We help all types and sizes of business that may require:
A clear and effective plan to bring to market healthier, natural or organic products in food, drink or skincare
Better product portfolio structuring and planning
A more dynamic retail strategy to exploit all appropriate commercial opportunities
A clear pathway to growth and next stage of progression – whether a well established business or a young business looking to push on
A well defined brand that will enable your products to stand out and be recognised
A plan for sustainability and being more environmentally friendly as a means to derive greater consumer appeal and acceptability
Meet the Team
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Al Overton
Al qualified as a Medical Herbalist in 1999 and has been involved in the health & wellbeing sector ever since. He has headed up the buying function at Planet Organic from 2012 to 2022, evolving them from an organic focused supermarket to a retail leader at the forefront of wellbeing innovation and new health foods. He also supervised Planet Organic’s own label development and drove their sustainability agenda around plastic free packaging, refill concepts and food waste.
At Planet Organic, Al was the launch-pad partner to hundreds of small brands and international brands entering the UK for the first time. He has worked with start-up incubators supporting and advising new brands from concept to shelf and has spoken at national and international conferences on wellness trends, sustainability initiatives and the changing retail landscape.
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Peter Marsh
Peter has over 40 years of retail business experience, most recently as CEO of the UK’s largest organic retailer, Planet Organic. Since 2008, he was responsible for consolidating the business and embarking on a sustainable growth path before seeking and identifying new investment to expand the Planet Organic offer. Previous roles have included Business Unit Director at Marks & Spencer, Commercial Director at Signet and Managing Director of fashion and lifestyle business Confetti Network.
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Lawrence Barnett
Lawrence has spent 25 years in food, drink and skincare branding and design. This has included working across a multitude of global, challenger and start up brands, many of which have or have strived to enhance their products’ health and wellbeing credentials. This has been achieved through the development of well defined, compelling brand ideas that resonate with key target consumers and the delivery of highly distinctive visual strategies that stand out against their competition. Equally at home with either larger or start up businesses, Lawrence has experience working with multiple and independent retailers, FMCG and artisan brands as well as foodservice operators.
How we work
We work as a team to maximise our combined skills and experience to meet a broader challenge. Or we can work as individuals working to a specific brief that demands a specific skill set.
