November 2022 to November 2023. Twelve months from first product to full range. Here’s what that year actually looked like from the inside — what we shipped, what surprised us, what we got wrong, and what it built.
What We Shipped
We launched eight distinct products and four bundle sets in twelve months:
- The Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron — November 2022
- The BBQ Blade — June 2023
- The King Fork — September 2023
- The Bison Skewer — September 2023
- Couple’s Gaucho Aprons, Trio Skewer, Family BBQ Tool Set, Cook and Dine Gift Set — September to November 2023
We passed 100 five-star reviews. We were shortlisted for Gift of the Year 2023. We received a Reigate business grant. We became a stockist for the Artisan Food Club. The Bison Hill Grill ran its first live-fire events in Surrey and Sussex.
What Surprised Us
Three things we didn’t anticipate clearly enough at the start of the year:
First, how many gifted orders there were versus self-purchase. We expected people to buy for themselves. The proportion buying for someone else — birthdays, Father’s Day, Christmas, “just because” — was higher than our initial assumptions. This shaped how we thought about bundles and presentation.
Second, how many customers ordered again within six months, but for someone else. Someone bought a Gaucho for themselves in January and came back in June for their father-in-law’s birthday. Repeat purchase driven by gifting, not replacement. That pattern is worth understanding.
Third, how quickly the tool range mattered. We launched as an apron brand. By the end of year one, the tools accounted for a significant share of orders — both standalone and in bundles. The Gaucho is still the hero product, but the range around it gave customers reasons to come back and reasons to spend more in a single order.
What We Got Wrong
We underestimated November and December demand. Stock ran low in the lead-up to Christmas 2022 — our first Christmas trading period. We couldn’t fulfil some orders in time. That’s a hard lesson that only teaches itself once, but it taught it clearly. December 2023 was a different story because we planned for it.
What Year One Built
Proof of concept. A real customer base. A product range with coherent logic. A catering operation that tests our own kit continuously. And a template for year two — which was already forming before the year one review was written.
