Opply is an automated ingredient ordering platform designed to revolutionise how food and beverage SMEs source, communicate and order from suppliers. As the world’s first end-to-end supply chain platform for these businesses, Opply streamlines the entire workflow, from sourcing and contracting, to payment systems.
Since our launch in 2021, the overwhelmingly positive response from our customers has confirmed that the industry was in need of disruption.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
I started my career at P&G and spent over a decade in the consumer goods sector, including starting and selling my own Food and Bev company. During this time, I witnessed firsthand how challenging it was for brands to find the right suppliers at competitive prices and the frustrations this caused – especially for SMEs in the food and drink industry. These businesses are striving to be both competitive and innovative in a margin-centric marketplace.
I met Martin Postel, Opply’s co-founder, a world class data and AI specialist with a PhD in Applied AI from ETH Zurich, during our time at Entrepreneur First, where we developed the idea of Opply together.
Martin and I share a vision to make the supply chain transparent and to empower brands to succeed. For too long, the supply chain has been a stagnant, manual process with very little innovation. We’ve built strong relationships across the ingredient supply chain, from producers to brands, in order to change this. By automating the connection between the two, the Opply platform not only saves customers up to 20% on the cost of ingredients, it also reduces sourcing time by an average of two months. I believe this is revolutionary for the industry.
Opply stands out by focusing on automation and efficiency. Our platform not only matches brands with suitable suppliers quickly with our GPT algorithm, but also handles the entire ordering process, reducing effort and increasing transparency. This innovation turns what was once a highly fragmented and frustrating experience into a smooth process. It’s especially beneficial for smaller brands that need to optimise their operations to remain competitive in today’s global retail environment.
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How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?
The need for an industry-wide solution like Opply became apparent during the pandemic. Fluctuating global demand, trading restrictions and shipping challenges caused by quarantine and lockdowns severely impacted SMEs. As a result, many struggled to continue production, with some close to folding, or forced to shut down entirely.
Producers and ingredient suppliers faced similar challenges, as connecting with fast-growing emerging brands became nearly impossible when international trade ground to a halt. Both sides needed a solution and we were able to introduce Opply by offering something truly innovative.
What can we hope to see from Opply in the future?
We want Opply to be the go-to strategic partner for SMEs to help make transparent purchasing decisions and secure significant savings on orders so they can reinvest in and grow their brands. One exciting initiative we’re looking at is demand aggregation – pooling requests from multiple companies to access the preferential pricing usually reserved for larger market players. We believe this could be a game-changer, enabling brands to leverage collective buying power to lower prices and meet minimum order quantities. We are also planning to launch real-time market insights and price trackers. Imagine being able to see changes in product and ingredient prices, demand and availability as they happen. We believe this will greatly enhance the ability to make quick, informed decisions on our platform for the success of the SMEs we champion.
Ultimately, our mission is to make the procurement supply chain simpler, more efficient and far more transparent. These upcoming features are all designed with that goal in mind and I’m really excited about what lies ahead for Opply and our customers.