Remember 2013? It was then that the Duchess of Cambridge’s unemployed younger brother, James Middleton, decided to start a company that would print people’s Instagram photos onto marshmallows. He named this exciting enterprise Boomf, and referred to himself as the company’s “Wonka-in-Chief.” The business expanded and contracted over the years, losing millions of dollars in the process, and in 2019, the company was forced to apologize after a whistleblowing employee revealed that the company was sending out marshmallows with Nazi imagery when requested. (After this revelation, a British news agency ordered a box of marshmallows printed with “the image of a swastika, concentration camp gates, Jewish graves and the neo-Nazi slogan ‘Blood and Soil’” as a test. Boomf fulfilled the order.)
Amazingly, Boomf carried on for two more years after the Nazi incident, but the party’s over now: The Daily Mail reports that company went bankrupt at the end of last year and was sold at a major loss to Otkrytka Limited, a firm founded by British-Estonian businessman Stepan Galaev. The price? Just £300,000. According to the Mail, Boomf owes almost £800,000 to creditors. Investors, including Middleton’s brother-in-law James Matthews, will not see a return. Boomf.
What’s next for this brilliant business mind and brother of the future Queen? A new venture, of course. In 2020, Middleton launched Ella & Co, a “happiness and wellbeing company for dogs,” also known as a dog food company. Middleton, who famously has four black spaniels and a golden retriever, told Tatler he decided to start this new business after changing his pets’ diet. “I started raw feeding and noticed an immediate visible effect,” he said. “Brighter eyes, shinier coats and much healthier poo.”
Middleton’s freeze-dried raw dog food is currently sold out online, which is almost certainly due to overwhelming demand and does not signify that Middleton has somehow already messed up this new business. Cheers.
