Midday Squares

Reach celebrities through their private chefs

Kim Kardashian posted Midday Squares twice without being paid. Nick Saltarelli explains that instead of chasing celebrities directly, the brand spent a decade befriending and supplying the chefs who cook for them, including the Kardashians' chef.

“Not paid. She's hooked us up 2 times on her social and, uh, I think that's the beauty of when you're hustling and we make it a point to be in with all the chefs. And so we're not looking for the direct connection to celebrities. That's what everybody's doing. So we've made it a point over the last decade to become friends with chefs. And that's so Chef K, shout out Chef K who cooks for the Kardashians. I mean, we were sending her product for years and years and years.”

Steal thisFind the chefs, trainers, and stylists who work for the celebrities you want, befriend them, and keep them stocked with your product.

Cocoa butter went from $4,000 to $32,000 a kilo

During the cocoa crisis, Midday Squares' cost for cocoa butter rose eightfold, from $4,000 to $32,000 per kilo. Saltarelli says the company lost about 27% of its gross margin overnight, right after it had reached profitability.

“Okay, so we started out as chocolate bars and crazy thing happened. You know, since we started this business in 2018, chocolate went parabolic, the cost of cocoa. And that means we lost like 27% of our gross margin overnight. We were killing it and chocolate, We were paying $4,000 a kilo for cocoa butter. It went up to $32,000 just to give you perspective.”

$60K, no Facebook ads, one city: Midday Squares' launch rules

The founders put in $60,000 and gave themselves two constraints: reach $1 million in revenue without Facebook ads, and do it entirely in Montreal before expanding. Saltarelli argues that Facebook ads create false positives for an early business.

“So basically it took about $60 grand. Me and my partners basically put this together. We put in $60 grand. So we created a constraint. We couldn't use Facebook ads. We had to get to $1 million of revenue and we couldn't use Facebook ads. That was constraint number one. And number two, it all had to be in our city. So we couldn't like just spray and pray.”

Steal thisSet a revenue milestone you have to hit in your home city with zero paid ads before you let yourself expand.

Charge 50 cents, not zero, to filter out freebie seekers

At launch in September 2018, Midday Squares sold single squares online for $0.50. The point was content rather than revenue, but a real card transaction kept out freebie hunters, and the founders hand-delivered every order for five months.

“Okay, so when we turned on the jets in September, so September 2018, we sold our product on our website for $0.50. And there's 2 reasons. Okay, so you can buy one square for $0.50. And the idea was, uh, it was all a content play. So we didn't want to actually make money, but we didn't want freebie people. So you had to get your credit card out, actually do a transaction. And we hand-delivered everything for 5 months.”

Steal thisInstead of giving away samples, charge a token price so that only people willing to pull out a card get in.

Costumes, Instagram shout-outs, and Polaroids on every delivery

Every morning the founders researched each customer's Instagram so they could shout out details like a dog's name. They then delivered in outlandish outfits, filmed the visit, and left a Polaroid that customers posted. Saltarelli says this 'way too far' take on doing things that don't scale got them to $1 million in about four months.

“Here's where the magic happened on content. We would wake up in the morning every morning, and this I took, I think I took do things that don't scale and we just went way too far with it. So in the morning, all of our orders would be ready and we would literally go on people's Instagram. So if you had a dog named Chuck, we'd be like, shout out Chuck. And we would wear these crazy outfits and we took Polaroids of ourselves.”

Midday Squares: $1.4M to $40M in seven years, on track for $60M

Saltarelli gives the year-by-year revenue: $1.4M, $3M, $7M, $14M, $22M, $30M, and $40M, with about $60M projected for this year. His opening number was $40 million of $2.49 bars sold in the past 12 months, roughly 60 bars a minute.

“So, so, okay, so, uh, year 1, I want to say $1.4 million. Then year 2, let's call it $3 million. Then we did a big jump to like $7 million, uh, $14 million, $22 million, $30 million, $40 million. And now this year we're on track for about $60 million.”

The Costco bet: break the roadshow record, get our price

Midday Squares and Costco argued for nearly three years over a $19.99 price for a 12-pack. In a third meeting, Saltarelli impulsively offered to do a consignment roadshow and break Costco's 14-day sales record in exchange for that price. They shook on it, then smashed the record after 36 straight days working the stores, and Costco US is now launching.

“And there's no guarantee you're going to get Costco. So I was really rattled. Again, we We didn't see eye to eye. This is the third time. And like, we're talking almost 3 years at this point in time. And so I looked at the buyer who we had started to develop actually a good relationship with him. And I'm like, if we do the roadshow and we break the roadshow record, like the most sales ever in 14 days, will you give us $19.99? And we shook hands that day.”

Work the in-store roadshow yourself and test keywords out loud

Most founders hand Costco roadshows to a third-party service. Saltarelli's team worked the 12-hour days themselves and called out claims like 'gluten-free' and 'diabetic-friendly' to passing shoppers. The words that stopped people, 'gluten-free' and 'real chocolate', went onto a Costco-specific box.

“Me, my wife, our whole team was in there. So the first thing is founders do it themselves. Um, the second thing is basically while you're there, you want to be really methodical. So I would just stand in front and yell out keywords. Gluten-free, diabetic-friendly.”

Steal thisStaff your own sampling events, keep track of which spoken claims stop shoppers, and rewrite your packaging around the winners.