LDC Top 50 2024
Sean and Charlotte Ali
Founders
Rheal
Husband-and-wife team Sean and Charlotte Ali discovered the benefits of natural superfoods at university. “We were looking for ways to help Charlotte manage her coeliac disease and started adding superfood powders to our diet. Within weeks, we both noticed a huge difference in our energy levels.” says Sean.
They launched Rheal in 2017 and appeared on Dragons’ Den four years later, becoming the first company to receive offers from all five Dragons for the asking amount. Since then, turnover has skyrocketed to £28m with products stocked in Holland & Barrett, Tesco and Boots. “We want to be the global leader in the superfoods space,” says Sean.
We wake up every day raring to go. We want to be the global leader in the superfoods space.”
Q&A
What has fuelled growth over the past five years?
Sean: The Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the business; suddenly everyone was shopping online and looking for ways to boost their immune system. The second tipping point was Dragons’ Den. The show aired in April 2021 and we made £0.5m that month alone, it was insane! The Dragons offered us the asking price of £50,000 for 5% of the business but we later walked away from that deal and instead raised £1m through a Seedrs crowdfunding campaign and private investment from [former Dragon] Tej Lalvani. This investment enabled us to start building our team and supercharged the growth of our brand.
What’s been your biggest challenge?
Sean: I was in a meeting in Newcastle in 2018 when I felt a hard lump on my neck. After scans and a biopsy, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had six months of chemo and radiotherapy. It was really intense but I think, mentally, it was worse for Charlotte. All she wanted to do was look after me. We still managed to grow the business by 275% that year and it made us even more motivated to help people live healthier.
Where do you see the business in the next five years?
Charlotte: We want to list with more UK retailers, launch new products and grow internationally. We did a test run in the US last year, but we had to pause that and focus our efforts on the UK; from a resource point of view, we just couldn’t keep up. America is still a market that excites us. There’s so much growth potential: it feels like we’re just getting started.
