Doselva is offering a convertible note at a $5 million valuation. Overall, this is a reasonable valuation given Doselva’s expected growth over the next several months of 2021. While the company generated almost $230,000 in revenue in 2019, Doselva plans to generate that much revenue in the next quarter alone; that strong growth indicates that Doselva has the potential to grow beyond $5 million in market value in the near future, indicating a good deal for investors. Therefore, Doselva’s price rating is high. 

In its raise materials, Doselva spends a good deal of time discussing the market for smallholder farmers in Central America. While securing a production supply chain is important, it’s also important for Doselva to be able to actually generate revenue from its spice products. This side of the equation is left relatively vague. 

Even if Doselva did discuss the market potential for premium organic spices, potential investors might not be particularly impressed. Analysts valued the global seasoning and spices market at $13.77 billion in 2019, with a moderate CAGR of 6.3% projected through 2027. While increased interest in exotic flavors and ethnic foods fuel market growth, the demand for spices is not explosive; it makes sense, as most consumers only need to buy one jar of a certain type of spice per year, often even less. 

Doselva is not playing in a gigantic market, and the company doesn’t actually seem all that focused on the consumer side of its business. Therefore, Doselva’s market rating is middle-of-the-road. 

Doselva was founded by Jefferson Shriver and Aaron Sachowitz. Shriver is the company’s CEO, and resides full-time in Nicaragua to operate the business. He has significant expertise in smallholder agriculture; he worked for Catholic Relief Services for 10 years, heading the organization’s USAID-funded agro-enterprise initiative called ACORDAR. Shriver also owns his own farm and natural foods store in Nicaragua. As a result, Shriver is deeply experienced in partnering with rural Central American farmers to grow excellent products and maximize profits.

Sachowitz seems to be less involved in Doselva’s day-to-day operations; he serves as an Associate Professor of Media Technologies and Culture at Saint Mary’s College of California, and doesn’t reside in Central America. 

Regardless of Sachowitz’ limited involvement, Doselva’s CEO is the ideal founder for this company. He is practically a Nicaraguan local, has spent over a decade involved in farming and business with smallholder farmers, and even owns his own small farming operation. Consequently, Doselva’s team score is high. 

Lack of differentiation in the spice market is one of Doselva’s biggest risks. While the company is unique in its social impact mission, and the fact that products are grown in central America (many spices are produced in southeast Asia and other tropical areas worldwide), it’s not clear that Doselva’s actual jars of spices stand out from competitors in the spice aisle. In fact, Doselva spends very little time describing its consumer activities. Beyond the limited mention of wholesale distribution to six buyers in America and Europe, the company doesn’t seem very focused on marketing its products. 

Doselva can only achieve a successful return on investment if it generates meaningful revenue from the sale of spices; however, the company seems more focused on building its network of rural farmers. It’s an admirable mission, but not necessarily customer-facing, and Doselva’s competitiveness within the spice market seems to suffer as a result. Therefore, Doselva’s differentiation rating is its lowest.  

Doselva generated over $227,000 in revenue in 2019, with a net loss of $53,584. 2020 financials aren’t disclosed, so it’s difficult to understand how Doselva performed last year through the turmoil of the global pandemic. However, the company seems to be growing steadily; Doselva plans to generate almost $260,000 in revenue for the next quarter of 2021 alone, which would theoretically result in annual revenues of over $1 million. That’s strong revenue growth for a company that’s less than three years old. In addition, Doselva is moving closer and closer to profitability; while the company lost over $50,000 in 2019, 2021 projections yield a profit. 

Doselva hasn’t experienced explosive growth in its two years in business, and potential investors can’t evaluate the company’s financial performance for last year. However, all indications are that Doselva will post solid year-over-year growth, and may even hit profitability in 2021. Those signals yield a strong performance rating. 

Doselva is doing admirable work in securing new methods of income for central American farmers struggling with the effects of climate change. Indeed, this social impact mission seems to be genuinely core to Doselva’s business model. However, there are some signs that Doselva’s approach to business might not result in significant growth for investors. The company doesn’t seem to focus much attention on marketing its products to consumers; the revenue generation side of the business equation is hardly detailed in raise materials, though income should obviously be one of Doselva’s most important business objectives. 

Furthermore, it’s not even clear that Doselva has a large market to sell to if it was focused on customer acquisition. The spice market is growing, but is still very small; consumer buying patterns are too sluggish for a spice company to become a household name. Potential investors should be wary of Doselva’s lack of sales and marketing focus, which, combined with a market that is niche to begin with, could limit the company’s growth potential. 

Doselva’s social impact is reason enough to be bullish. Rural farmers in central America and other less-developed regions are being hit hard by the effects of climate change, and Doselva’s method of integrating spice crops into their pre-existing farms seems to be a beneficial solution that can directly improve lives. 

Investors should also look favorably upon the deep experience of Doselva’s CEO, Jefferson Shriver. Working in agricultural enterprise in developing countries is very difficult and delicate work, but Shriver’s expertise working with leading non-governmental organizations and USAID-backed initiatives is a major indicator that he has the relationships and knowledge to navigate Doselva to success. 

Finally, Doselva is growing steadily, with strong year-over-year revenue growth and the potential to hit profitability as soon as this year. While the company will likely never grow to be a billion-dollar brand, investors have the chance to get in early at a reasonable price, then reap the benefits as Doselva brings in more and more revenue with increasing efficiency. 

Doselva is a business with a triple bottom line: the company’s method of partnering with rural Central American farmers to produce high-quality organic spices has the potential to reap financial profits, sustain families, and benefit the environment. Doselva is led by an experienced social entrepreneur with specific agriculture expertise in Nicaragua; perhaps as a result, it has grown revenues steadily and is nearing profitability.   

On the other hand, Doselva is operating in a very niche market of high-end spices, and its focus on social impact might not be a strong enough differentiator as consumers (infrequently) reach for a jar of spices in the grocery aisle. It’s not clear that Doselva has thorough plans for building a strong consumer spice brand, which is a further sign of potential stagnation. Therefore, Doselva has been rated a Neutral Deal. 

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