19^th July 2021

Parsley Box Group plc

("Parsley Box" or the "Company")

Trading Update

Strong H1 2021 growth driven by repeat purchase rates and average order value

Parsley Box Group plc (AIM: MEAL), the rapidly growing direct to consumer provider of ready meals focused on the Baby Boomer + demographic, today provides an update on trading for the interim period ending 30 June 2021 ("HY21"). The Group's half-yearly report will be notified on 7 September 2021.

The Directors expect to report unaudited revenue in H1 2021 of over £14m, an increase of 26% over the same period in 2020 and 411% over the previous H1 2019, showing the rapid growth available by focusing on this underserved demographic. The Company ended H1 with £6.5m in cash and no debt following the £5m fundraising completed by the Company as part of its successful IPO in March 2021.

Active Customers at the period end were at record levels as a result of the substantial number of new customers acquired in H1 2021, albeit new customer additions returned to a more normalised level compared to the unusually high level of new customers in H1 2020.  Repeat customer orders, the key driver for long term profitable growth, showed a significant increase on the comparable period in H1 2020, demonstrating the benefit of the acceleration of customer growth seen in 2020, which also continues to flow through into higher order values.

_{(1)        Active Customers are defined as customers who have made at least one subsequent order (excluding first order) within the past 13 months}

_{(2)        AOV (Average Order Value)}

As Covid-19 restrictions ease, shopping behaviours are beginning to normalise and this has had some impact on sales growth. However, the Board anticipates that this effect will be short term and is confident that the accelerated shift in consumer behaviour towards our direct-to-consumer model is permanent and that the underlying growth drivers of the business and the favourable demographic trends, remain in place. The Board expects H2 revenue growth to be substantially ahead of H1, driven by product innovation and continuing progress in repeat AOV.

Kevin Dorren, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"The continued growth delivered in the first half of the financial year driven by strong growth in repeat orders has continued our positive momentum and is very encouraging. This, together with our key food development hires of Cassandra Suddes and Serena Philipson, gives us every confidence in the growth prospects for our business. We look forward to delivering the first phase of our product innovation pipeline in H2 2021."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Enquiries:

Notes to editors: 

Parsley Box delivers ready meals, that do not need to be stored in a fridge or freezer, direct to the underserved Baby Boomer+ consumer, broadly defined as those aged 60 and over. Its mission is to champion and empower the over 60s. The core product range comprises over 60 single portion sized meals spanning various cuisines.

The Baby Boomer+ demographic is growing rapidly; it represented c.24 per cent. of the UK population (16.2 million people) in 2019 and is the only age demographic that is forecast to grow materially in the next 10 years (source: Government Office for Science, Future of an Ageing Population). Parsley Box was formed specifically to target this highly attractive fast-growing market.

Based in Edinburgh, Parsley Box was founded in March 2017 by husband-and-wife team Gordon and Adrienne MacAulay following the couple's discovery of limited options for delivery of ready meals for Gordon's mother. Since then, Parsley Box has grown to offer a 'one stop shop' for its target market.