Invest in INSTAR BRANDS today!

A New Brand Management Model for Growth Brands

This Regulation D 506c offering is illiquid, speculative, and risky.
It's possible to lose all of your investment

RAISED:

$175,000.00

INVESTORS:

3 MINIMUM INVESTMENT:

$25,000

TERMS:

Debt 10% APR PIK

7 Yr. Balloon

+0.2% per $25k Equity Rider

Over $150,000 Previously Raised from Investors

Reasons to Invest

10% APR PIK

7 Yr. Balloon

0.2% per $25k Equity Rider

CEO, Todd Wichmann (former P&G) has a strong brand building track record. He managed P&Ls for Tide and Cascade at P&G. Since becoming an entrepreneur, he's purchased fledgling brands such as Oxydol, Biz, and Fit and successfully sold them.
INSTAR scales imported brands seeking to launch in the US market through large retail.
INSTAR has access to a proprietary network of contract manufacturers.
INSTAR's distribution network includes large retail stores such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Kroger, Amazon, and many more.
INSTAR is offering a 10% APR return Payment In Kind, 7 Yr Balloon, which then converts into 0.2% equity ownership in the company for every unit sold.

Experienced Brand Builders

INSTAR: The New Brand Management Model

INSTAR Brands imports & co-manufacturers consumer products sourced from around the world seeking to sell into the North American market (USA / Canada / Mexico).

INSTAR acts as the intermediary or what we like to call a "Market Development Organization" for international companies looking for a landing zone to get their operations and sales started in the USA.

After establishing a beach head with regularly ordering national retail distribution, INSTAR Brands hands over the day-to-day operations to a local management team.

INSTAR currently represents international companies taking dozens of brands and specialty bulk chemicals into the market.

International Brands are Eager to Launch into the US Market

Candies

Juices

Coffee

INSTAR's fastest growth is coming from the distribution of Brands who are seeking distribution in the United States. This includes both domestic USA brands that are regional or just beginning, as well as large multi-national brands that are successful in Latin America, but don't know how to effectively enter the US market.

INSTAR provides sales and marketing services at a ~10% fee/ profit over existing pricing. INSTAR acts as the vendor to retailers while providing full margin to the Brand.

INSTAR is strategically placed with offices, co-packing, and distribution hubs across the US. This gives us the ability to sell- in to big retailers.

Through our offices in Miami, business opportunities continue to present themselves in the greater Miami-Dade area, as Central and South American CPG companies look for sales windows to enter the US retail market.

Case Study: PET CAKES and the Global Pet Expo

2023 Winner of "Best in Show"

In March, INSTAR brought one of our portfolio companies, PetCakes, to the Global Pet Expo in Florida, where we were able to secure a $100K purchase order from a large Club Store.

There are dozens of CPG products like these looking for representation in retail.

$10 Million

Annual Legacy Sales

Produce Wash

Consumer Hand Soaps

Hand Sanitizers

INSTAR's core brand is a Produce Wash, which is the same as P&G's FIT Produce Wash that I bought & sold for many years. The historical customers moved their business to INSTAR Brands as a B2B supplier.

This is a stable food service business, which anchors INSTAR and funds business operations.

We plan to scale this up by rebranding and providing commercial innovation across a number of cleaning products for retail stores.

INSTAR Antibacterial Produce Wash formulas were re-launched in Powder and Liquid forms. Historically, they reached $10 Million/year.

Introducing: Melalueca Oil

Logo (above) will be licensed “for free” to any purchaser of the Melaleuca Oil to proudly display on their packaging the contents are “preservative free”

Imagine: Preservative-Free Shampoos, Laundry, & Cleaning Products

Consumers demand "Preservative Free" products.

Melalueca oil is a proprietary blend of plant essential oils that provides a pleasant scent and acts as a natural preservative. It was developed by a scientist in Brazil, and we have exclusive rights.

Because it's all natural, it means it does not require EPA approval. INSTAR melaleuca oil will provide a functional benefit for shampoo or laundry detergent formulations, while simultaneously eliminating the need for chemical preservatives.

We've already tested the efficacy with consumer goods formulations. We're targeting large consumer goods companies, cleaning, and beauty care products.

We will leverage our retail and B2B network to launch into the specialty chemicals industry. INSTAR Brands owns the distribution, sales and marketing rights to this technology for North, South, Central American and the Caribbean Islands.

Both consumers and retailers alike are demanding “clean ingredient” lists, and this technology will help achieve that goal. Sales begin in Summer 2023.

LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER

Dear Investors,

I am writing to you about my newest company, INSTAR Brands, a company that is revolutionizing the Brand Management Model.

INSTAR Brands offers new brands the opportunity to scale in the United States by contract manufacturing through my network of co-packers while accessing major retailers through our proprietary distribution channels.

INSTAR Brands was born out of my passion for brand building, ever since I was a young Brand Manager overseeing Tide and Cascade over twenty years ago. I've carried those skills and built connections for the last 25 years taking small fledgling brands to scale. I left P&G to acquire Oxydol and Biz to grow and sell them. I also did the same thing for FIT produce wash.

As a brand builder, I know how hard it is to get exposure to major retailers, and I spent all those years developing relationships with Walmart, Target, Costco, Kroger, Amazon, and many more. Now, I bring those relationships to my new company, INSTAR Brands, to help other small brands fulfill their dreams of scaling into major retailers.

I just recently founded INSTAR Brands, and I'm going to scale up a portfolio of brands in a major way. Within the portfolio is another produce wash, which I've got a lot of experience growing already.

INSTAR Brands is more than just a brand management company. Think of it as a platform that supports small brands with big dreams. Now, I'm taking a new portfolio of brands we represent from Mexico, Europe, and South America into the US market.

That's why we're launching this public fundraising campaign. A public fundraising round is a unique way to raise capital for our business at scale with maximum exposure for us AND our portfolio.

It allows us to offer you a financial stake in our company in exchange for your investment. By investing in INSTAR Brands, you can benefit in our growth, but more importantly, you'll also become part of our mission and vision.

We are seeking to raise $1,000,000 in this campaign, which will help us grow our team, build our inventories, and increase our merchandising efforts with our retail partners.

If you are interested in investing in INSTAR Brands, please review the campaign page, where you can find more details about our company, our financials, and our valuation. We’re seeking accredited investors and institutions at a minimum of $25,000 or more. The campaign will run until we reach our maximum target.

We hope that you will become part of our investors base and help make INSTAR Brands a success.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Todd Wichmann

Terms

Company:

Instar Brands, LLC.

Corporate Address:

Corporate Address

Offering Minimum:

$250,000

Offering Maximum

$1,000,000

Minimum Investment per Investor:

$25,000/unit

Company:

Instar Brands, LLC.

Type of Offering:

10% PIK Interest

7 Year Balloon Payment

+0.2% Equity Rider

(for every unit sold)

Class:

Debt, converting to Class B Non-Voting

Post-Money Conversion Valuation:

$12,500,000

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How and when should we expect a return on investment?

Based on the projections of the business and the sales growth we are experiencing, the note is expected to be paid back in full within 3-5 years. Given the high interest rate of 10%, Instar Brands is heavily incentivized to pay that down as fast as possible. Note however, that even after the initial loan is paid off, the “equity kicker” remains for the life of Instar Brands, which will provide consistent annual returns to the investor which is separate and additional cash flow vs the loan interest rate.

Q: Who are your main current customers?

For the first year of operations, the sales activity started with the existing natural cleaning formulas I have been selling for over 20 years. Therefore the current largest customer is Edible Arrangements, who uses Instar Antibacterial Produce Wash in every one of their 1000+ locations nationwide. As we move into retail sales (consumer focused sales) with this investment, the “usual suspects” are the ones you would expect: Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Publix and HEB dominate the USA retail market.

Q: How do you acquire new customers - and how expensive is it to do so?

Unlike technology products, app development, or b-to-b services, consumer products (ironically) do not usually have the marketing funds to pitch their product directly to consumers at the start. Unless a marketing budget has well over $1 Million to even begin starting discussions, it is really a waste of money to focus on pitching consumers directly, because there isn't enough capital to reach enough of them to matter. Therefore, unless you are P&G or the like, the way to start selling when you're small is to focus on the RETAILER (not the consumer). Of course the entire consumer proposition has to be thought out, but Instar Brands has found working with the retailer at the start of a project, to get their buy-in and thoughts on how/who/what package to sell this in, the retailer will often provide “free” end-cap support, reduced in-store demo costs, etc to get the product launched. With the exception of the EPA, the consumer products industry (generally) has a “light touch” from regulators. There is no “pre-approval” needed by the FDA for any product, as long as it has been manufactured with “good manufacturing practices” (GMP) which is a self-regulated standard. The EPA is the exception, which governs antibacterial & disinfectant claims sold on consumer products.

Q: What are your margins / typical P&L for a brand?

For Instar Branded products (formulas created and owned by the company), we strive to always maintain a 50% Gross Margin (no freight) on all of our products lines. Over 20 years of experience in the consumer goods industry has taught me you need these high “starting” margins in order to absorb all of the costs of doing business with large retailers. For distribution sales of non-Instar Brands products, we apply a 10% fee (all profit) for these brands looking for help in USA retail sales.

Q: What are your biggest obstacles / challenges your business faces?

The biggest challenge of any small consumer products company is “mind share” with our retail partners. To understand the CPG Industry think of this analogy: no matter what business you are in right now, imagine someone showing up to sell you a new, breakthrough, unbelievable technology, ball point ink pen. It might be cool and interesting - but who cares? Your business won't live and die based on this pen you are being pitched. Hence, this is the dilemma of a small CPG company to a giant such as Walmart or Costco - you are pitching new 'pens' to them. Instar Brands overcomes this challenge by being more than a “1 SKU Vendor” and sells in multiple large consumer categories.

Q: Why are your operations focused in Cincinnati, OH and Miami-Dade, FL?

Cincinnati is home to the best CPG training company in the world - the Procter and Gamble Company. The founder (Todd Wichmann) spent years at P&G learning how to create / formulate, pitch to consumers, and get retailers to shelve, national products used in the home. Hence, just as every software company needs an office in Silicon Valley, Cincinnati is the capital of the CPG World. Miami is experiencing an unbelievable burst of activity and economic development. If you are not aware, the USA Federal Gov. will issue a green card to any business owner who invests $1 Million (or more) into a new business formed and created within the United States. Hence, Miami is bursting with South American and Central American consumer brands (family owned but still very large) desperately seeking two things: American citizenship & the sales to justify a USA issued green card. Instar Brands has successfully integrated itself into the Latin business community of Miami-Dade, and hence this community is a large source of deals and new brands to launch into USA Retail.

Q: How will this investment be used to expand / grow Instar Brands’ business?

The additional capital will be used primarily for working capital and marketing funds to accelerate the growth of the Instar businesses. There are also R&D investments needed to gather the necessary data to launch the Melaleuca oil preservation system into the Consumer Packaged Goods industry.