Meuwly’s: Scaling Sustainability in a Start-Up

In 2016, Peter Keith and his cofounders started Meuwly’s Ltd. (Meuwly's) as a subscription food-box service, and in 2018, they established a physical presence in one of the liveliest locations in downtown Edmonton, Alberta. The expansion diversified the company’s revenue streams, including retail, wholesale, special events, and subscription sales. The company strove to be sustainable, but faced a number of challenges. First, customers valued the sustainable, “eat-local” ethos of Meuwly’s locally sourced products but not its single-use product packaging, which failed to reflect the company's sustainability goals; Meuwly’s experimented with alternatives, but these compromised the product quality customers expected. Second, the company’s commitment to paying employees above minimum wage affected its profit margins and financial resources and constrained its availability to pursue sustainability initiatives. Third, misleading industry marketing pervaded the delicatessen market, compromising growth and pricing strategies. Finally, the local delicatessen market was saturated and very competitive. In November 2019, Keith faced important questions regarding the future direction of the company’s sustainability strategy: how could he design an appropriate stage-two sustainability strategy for Meuwly’s while retaining the company’s loyal customer base?

This case can be used in both undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on business sustainability. Prior knowledge regarding the basic principles of industry analysis, the triple bottom line, and corporate sustainability metrics would be beneficial. Instructors may also use this case to explore the evolutionary, relational, and durational perspectives of sustainability journeys. The case provides students with information on a sustainability-focused food retailer and asks them to discuss the challenges it faces and to design an appropriate sustainability strategy for the company’s future. After working through the case and assignment questions, students should be able to do the following:<br><br/><ul><li>Critically evaluate sustainability challenges faced by new businesses in the food industry.</li><li>Contrast existing business models with emerging sustainability trends and practices.</li><li>Evaluate the pros and cons of implementing a sustainable supply chain strategy.</li><li>Explain, utilize, and strategically evaluate complex decision-making frameworks.</li></ul>

• branding
• triple bottom line
• start up
• entrepreneurship
• supply chain