The Brands We Are Working With Right Now
Who MV Retail Advisory works with
We work with three types of business: founder-led Australian brands preparing for their first serious retail conversation, international brands launching into the Australian market, and established barnds and manufacturers building commercial channels beyond direct to consumer.
The work is usually one of four things. Getting a brand commercially ready before a buyer sees it. Representing it once it is in front of one. Building the channel structure that lets it grow past its current ceiling. Or taking an Australian brand offshore and finding the distributors who can carry it. Below are three current engagements, described as they actually are.
INTERNATIONAL MARKET ENTRY | HEALTH AND WELLNESS
WillPowders Australia
WillPowders is a UK supplement company founded by Davinia Taylor. The proposition is clean formulation: grass fed collagen, MCT, protein, electrolytes, vitamins and nootropics, with no sugar and nothing unnecessary in the stack.
The brand has now launched in Australia with a local operation and a direct to consumer store at au.willpowders.com. With over 7000 five star reviews, whats not to love!
The engagement
MVRA is acting as international market entry consultant and commercial partner. The brief is to spearhead WillPowders' expansion in Australia. Five workstreams:
Retail readiness assessment across pricing, margin, supply capability and category fit
Commercial strategy for the Australian market
Packaging and product presentation advice against Australian requirements
Go to market strategy across channels
Live negotiation with domestic buyers
Status: buyer negotiations underway.
EXPORT AND DISTRIBUTION | PREMIUM SPIRITS
Naught Distilling
Naught Distilling produces premium Australian gin in Victoria, with a distillery and function venue attached. The range runs from Australian Dry and Classic Dry through Overproof, Sangiovese, Ruby and a barrel aged Signature Series.
Naught Overproof was named the world's best gin at the 2024 International Wine and Spirit Competition. Naught has the product and the recognition. What it needs is reach beyond Australian shores.
The engagement
MVRA is acting as commercial partner, working in two directions at once.
Offshore: opening distribution in the United States, the European Union and India. Sourcing and qualifying distributors and retail partners to fast-track expansion.
Domestically: widening reach beyond Victoria into New South Wales and Queensland, sourcing distributors and retail partners in both states.
Status: distributor and retail partner conversations in progress across both workstreams.
ECOMMERCE AND B2B CHANNEL | FRAMING AND WALL ART
Lyoley
Lyoley designs and sells aluminium frames and artwork direct to consumers in Australia. The product had a market well beyond the retail shopper, in commercial buyers who order in volume, reorder on a cycle, and make decisions on entirely different terms.
MV Retail Advisory works with Lyoley across three fronts: ecommerce performance, search visibility, and as a commercial partner opening the B2B channel.
Direct to consumer and B2B are not the same business wearing different clothes. One sells a single frame to someone furnishing a room. The other supplies volume to a buyer who cares about lead times, account terms, consistency across an order, and whether you can do it again next quarter. A site built for the first will not convert the second, and a brand with no trade offer gives a commercial buyer no reason to open an account.
The engagement
Ecommerce platform build, maintenance and performance, treating the website as a revenue asset rather than a brochure
Search visibility, building organic search into a demand source instead of a cost line
Trade offer and B2B channel structure, giving commercial buyers a reason to hold an account
Commercial partnership on B2B market expansion
Active. The B2B channel build is in progress. Web re-platform is under way.
MAJOR RETAIL RANGING | HALAL FOODS AND FMCG
Mega International Foods
Mega International Foods started in 2007 dealing in Middle Eastern brands, roasted nuts and dried fruit. By 2011 it had moved into halal food importing and distribution out of Pakistan, Lebanon and the UAE. In 2015 it did something importers rarely do and installed its own small factory in Australia to manufacture subcontinental bakery lines.
It now holds exclusive Australian distribution rights to 21 premium brands, among them National Foods, Shezan, Hemani and Lotte Kolson. These are not emerging labels. Their founding dates run back to 1942, several are publicly listed in their home market, and between them they export to dozens of countries.
The demand is already proven. Mega supplies more than 600 wholesale customers across Australia, with lines moving through IGA and FoodWorks stores and independent supermarket groups including Marketplace Fresh and Bestway. Head office sits in Truganina, with distribution in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane.
The independent trade has answered the question of whether the product sells. National ranging asks a different set of questions entirely.
How a client engagement actually runs
Every engagement starts the same way, with an honest read of whether the business is commercially ready for what it is asking for. Most are not, and knowing that early is worth more than an introduction. Commercial assessment. Pricing, margin architecture, landed cost, supply capability, category fit. We tell you what a buyer will find before the buyer finds it. Readiness build.
Trading terms modelling, promotional funding structure, range logic, the pitch built around category contribution rather than brand story. Representation and growth. Buyer engagement, range review preparation, negotiation, then ongoing account management or channel expansion.
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We're a team of passionate thinkers and doers, dedicated to building with purpose and clarity. Collaboration and curiosity drive everything we do.
We have the relevant experience, connections and skills to represent your brand locally and internationally. -
The businesses that get value from us have three things in common: a product that already sells, a leadership team prepared to change the commercial model rather than just the pitch deck, and enough working capital to fund ranging stock and payment cycles if the answer comes back yes.
We will tell you early if you are not there yet. A brand that walks into a range review unprepared does not simply lose the meeting. It burns the relationship for two years.
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From startups to seasoned brands, we partner with people who care about doing things right, and doing them well. Whether you are seeking retail entry in Australia or are readly to export internationally, we can help.
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Yes. Most of our clients come to us before their first serious buyer conversation, not after. Pre-retail is usually where the commercial work has the most value, because pricing and margin structure are still changeable.
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Yes. Australian retail has its own compliance requirements, trading term structures and ranging cycles. International brands that treat Australia as an extension of their home market consistently underestimate the preparation required.
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Yes. Outsourced account management is one of our core services. We manage buyer relationships, range reviews and promotional negotiations on your behalf, which gives a brand senior commercial representation without the cost of an in-market team.
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Yes. As well as bringing international brands into Australia, we help Australian brands move the other way, sourcing and qualifying distributors and retail partners in overseas markets and representing the brand commercially in those conversations.
Considering your next retail move?
A strategy call is complimentary and diagnostic. You will leave it knowing where your commercial gaps are, whether or not you work with us.
