Can an old-fashioned milk round really become a modern £60 million business? What does it actually take to revive a forgotten business model, scale to 130,000 customers, survive major setbacks and expand into America?In this episode of Getting to Grow, Zoe Fox sits down with Simon Mellon, founder of The Modern Milkman, to discuss what it really takes to build, scale and evolve a modern consumer business.Growing up in the food industry, Simon spent his early career working as a mechanic and in motorsport before returning to food. He became interested in the disconnect between consumers, farmers and food producers, as well as the waste created by increasingly long supply chains. While looking for a way to solve those problems, he discovered the traditional milk round and saw an opportunity to bring it back with technology.What started with buying a local milk round for £2,500 and around 100 customers eventually grew into a business serving around 130,000 UK customers and generating around £60 million in UK revenue. Simon explains how technology transformed the traditional milk round, how the business built density through local routes, and how COVID caused the company to quadruple in just two weeks.In this conversation, Simon shares the realities of scaling Modern Milkman, from building the technology and logistics infrastructure behind the business to navigating rapid growth, raising more than £60 million, managing major economic shocks and expanding into the United States. He also discusses one of the company's biggest product failures, when a customer described their own oat milk as tasting like "piss soaked cardboard", and the lessons that came from it.Simon explains why operations and logistics are at the heart of Modern Milkman's business model, why America is a completely different challenge to the UK, why founders should surround themselves with people willing to challenge their ideas, and how he had to evolve from doing everything himself to enabling other people to succeed.He also discusses the company's long-term vision of becoming a service that sits on the household doorstep, why milk is just the entry point, how sustainability and convenience drive the business, and why being one percent better every day can create a much bigger impact over time.In this episode:How Simon Mellon built Modern MilkmanWhy the traditional milk round was ahead of its timeHow he bought his first milk round for £2,500How Modern Milkman grew to 130,000 customersHow COVID caused the business to quadruple in two weeksWhy technology and logistics are at the heart of the businessThe biggest mistakes and failures, including the oat milk disasterHow Modern Milkman raised more than £60 millionWhy scaling a business gets harder as it gets biggerWhy founders need people who challenge their thinkingHow Simon learned to stop doing everything himselfHow Modern Milkman expanded into AmericaWhy America is not one marketWhy not knowing everything can be a superpowerSimon’s advice to aspiring founders: just crack on and have a goIf you're interested in entrepreneurship, startups, FMCG, consumer brands, grocery, sustainability, logistics, technology, marketing, operations, fundraising, leadership or business growth, you'll enjoy this conversation.Follow Zoe FoxInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gettingtogrow/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-foxgettingtogrow/Modern Milkmanhttps://themodernmilkman.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/modernmilkman_uk/
