Charlie and Dan were both let go from their jobs in the city in 2019, and decided to take the opportunity to do something different. With complementing skillsets in marketing and finance and some investment behind them, the two set out to create something new.
Three years later, Exalt is hugely popular for their range of healthy cold-pressed smoothies and juices, a healthy option for the road with no preservatives. Boasting tons of protein and even collagen in some of their drinks, they recently collaborated with Nike and are about to become the official sports nutrition drink partner of a Premier League football club.
Fed up with complicated shipping and losing customers due to sloppy mistakes from carriers, Exalt turned to the dream team of Shiptheory and Hived, and have never looked back. Read on to find out how the partnership of Shiptheory and Hived is a game changer for Exalt. Click here to check out the Exalt website for their full range of products!
Charlie Wilson-Vaughan
Co-Founder
I'd liken Shiptheory to a silent partner in the best possible way. It gets on, does it's thing, and makes our lives easier - and I'll pay anything for that!
Q: Can you give us a little background to how things got started at Exalt?
After me and my husband Dan were both made redundant in 2019, we decided we wanted to do something. We'd always wanted to work for ourselves, so it was the perfect time to do it.
Dan's mum is in Yorkshire and mine is in Wales, so on the way to see them, we've stopped at a lot of motorway service stations. There's always a Burger King, McDonalds, WH Smith...but we wanted to work out something healthy to eat on the move. We wanted a good fresh option for on the go - and we've managed to crack it! No-one else has managed to make a fresh protein shake or meal replacement without preservatives or pasteurisation, and we work with leading food scientists and dieticians.
Q: How do you reaffirm your commitment to sustainability?
Sustainability is hugely important to us. From the outset, we've worked with Sancroft International to ensure that every aspect of our supply chain and sourcing is done with sustainability in mind. Our bottles are all made from recycled plastic, and we partnered with Hived for zero-emissions delivery.
Q: How did you begin working with Hived as a carrier?
We were a pretty early client of Hived - they reached out to us first. We get a lot of companies reaching out to try and work with us, but I'm so glad we decided to work with them. A lot of people we work with couldn't care less about the product compared to how much we care.
You spend so much money acquiring a customer, and all that good will can evaporate last minute because a driver couldn't find the right place, it gets lost and has ruined a fresh product. That's why we love Hived - they go above and beyond and we recommend them constantly.
Q: Where does Shiptheory fit in to your shipping?
We used to use Shiptheory with Parcelforce, and when we moved to Hived we were sad to leave Shiptheory behind. Thankfully we didn't have to hold on for long before the Shiptheory-Hived integration came along. Now you just press a button, the label prints magically, I don't have to tell the team which printer to use...plus the support is great, they're very responsive and can set up all the logic for you.
The rules are super helpful and logical and have saved us loads of time. It use to be a nightmare to teach the team what goes where and when and with which carrier - sometimes WE don't even understand it, so automating it with Shiptheory is so helpful.
Q: Do you personally have a favourite drink in the Exalt range?
They're all functional, but Higher Energy is one of my favourites - it's full of caffeine and I think I'm only a few weeks away from injecting it! It fuels our hectic workdays. I also love Lean Machine after training, and I have Berry Berry Good for breakfast everyday.
Q: What's been your proudest moment with Exalt so far?
We've just done a collaboration with Nike, which is really cool. If you'd said to me two years ago we would've been working co-branded with one of the world's biggest brands, I would never have believed that would be possible - it's a great testament to our product.
We're also in the final stages of negotiations with a Premier League football club to become their official sports nutrition drink supplier - you'll find out who that is in the next few weeks!
Q: Do you have any specific growth goals over the next few years?
We're hoping that our collaboration with a Premier League club will diversify our offering a little. Although we're primarily a performance brand, our demographic is currently 70% women, so this collaboration should get us is front of some new faces.
Honestly, after Covid, lockdowns, retailers closing, driver storage, inflation...still being here and continuing to grow. The market is so crazy that staying afloat after all this is enough - I'm not going to say any more and jinx it!
Q: Would you recommend using Shiptheory and Hived together?
I'd 100% recommend them - especially from a customer support perspective. When you start as a small business, you need to be very agile and as you find your feet. It's great to find people who will support your growth and help out with your random logistics issues. As an eCommerce brand, it's invaluable to have that level of support.