Welcome back to episode 20 of Getting to Grow! This week we were joined by Sasha Watkins and Alex Brooks, co-founders of Field Doctor. Field Doctor offer chef made frozen meals, delivered to your door. 

The deliciously healthy meals are crafted in a Somerset kitchen by dietitian Sasha and Michelin-trained chef, Matt Williamson. Using ingredients from sustainably-focused producers, the food is packed with flavour, nutrients and health benefits, then flash-frozen to lock-in its goodness.

Field Doctor have a simple, but big goal. To create amazing tasting food that can boost your health and leaves the planet in a better place than when we started. One meal at a time.

To find out more, visit fielddoctor.co.uk and make sure to follow them on Instagram @fielddoctoruk 

If you enjoyed this episode please be sure to leave a like, share or a review as it really helps support what we do.

See you guys next time!

Zoe

Welcome back to another episode of Getting to Grow! On episode #19 I was joined by Duncan O'Brien, founder of Dalstons. 

Dalston's was born in 2012 and it started in the most vibrant and eclectic of East London homes. The iconic Passing Clouds nightclub in Dalston – a hub of spoken word, reggae, gypsy swing and everything in between – was the birthplace of, well, Dalston’s.

It was there that Duncan started mashing and blending the first bottles of Dalston’s Cola by hand in a tiny kitchen to sell at the venue as its alternative to mainstream soft drinks. But his journey to the drinks industry goes back even further – in the bar car of an Orient Express train riding around the west coast of Scotland.

Just three months after joining the Orient Express as a bartender, Duncan was called into the on-board kitchen as emergency cover and soon found himself wearing chef whites permanently. Making the shift from food preparation to drink-making was an interesting progression for Duncan, but fast forward to 2012 and  Duncan was making and bottling his colas out of tiny kitchens in East London. The inspiration behind Dalston Cola? “The pure and simple underdog mentality of going up against Coca Cola; an enormous and established company.”

Dalstons outgrew their first brew-yard, waved goodbye, and moved to a larger space in 2016. In 2016 Duncan called in a little help from co-founder, Dan Broughton and industry turned pro investor Giles Brook in order to take on the big drinks biz head on. The business started accelerating and thanks to a brand refresh and some awesome new flavours – their sodas went pop!

Currently you can find Dalstons in the likes of Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Whole Foods and many more including independents.

To find out more, visit dalstons.com and make sure to follow them on Instagram @drinkdalstons

If you enjoyed this episode please be sure to leave a like, share or a review as it really helps support what we do.

See you guys next time!

Zoe

On Episode 18 of Getting to Grow, we spoke to Emily Tout, co-founder of Mighty slice.

Mighty Slice was founded in the summer of 2021 by Emily Tout and Jamie Cumming, to provide protein snacks for dessert lovers. Combining a sweet-tooth with her love of fitness, Emily would often experiment in her kitchen with protein powders, coming up with innovative ways to incorporate them into homemade desserts like cheesecakes and apple crumbles, transforming these much-loved desserts into delicious post-workout snacks.

To find out more, visit mightyslice.co.uk and make sure to follow them on Instagram @mightyslice_

If you enjoyed this episode please be sure to leave a like, share or a review as it really helps support what we do.

See you guys next time!

Zoe

In this week’s episode, Zoe was joined by Duncan Keith, co-founder of Days Brewing.

Days, founded by Duncan Keith and Mike Gammell in early 2020, creates its authentically 0.0% abv beers by combining locally sourced Scottish water and malt barley with a unique alcohol-free brewing process. With their backgrounds in consumer goods, the pair had a realisation that their relationship with alcohol had totally transformed over the years, but their love for beer remained with its unique ability to bring people together. 

What they realised, is that beer didn't necessarily need to equal alcohol. Could they take all the great things about beer- refreshment, flavour and sociability and remove the side effects that aren’t always welcome?  They shared the idea with friends and realised the potential for a refreshing beer that works with you, not against you, is enormous. And that is what Days is all about. For those who love great beer and all it brings, but are tired of side effects from holding them back. Duncan and Mike like to think of it as the natural evolution of beer. Brewed for modern consumers and mindsets.

We spoke to Duncan about the purpose behind how he and Mike came to start Days, why it’s alcohol free and much more.

To find out more, visit daysbrewing.com and make sure to follow them on Instagram @daysbrewing

If you enjoyed this episode please be sure to leave a like, share or a review as it really helps support what we do.

See you guys next time!

Zoe

Welcome back to Getting to Grow! We are super excited for Season 2 and have some amazing founders to come on the podcast over the next 6 months! 

To kick us off, we spoke to Josh Puddle, Co-Founder of Momo Kombucha.   

Founders Josh & Lisa Puddle first came across kombucha on a trip to New York back in 2016. Lisa had been reading about Gut Health and had heard that kombucha was fantastic for bringing the gut and the body back into balance as it promotes and maintains a healthy digestive function. By the end of the trip they were hooked and were noticing positive changes that they felt were related to the kombucha - they had more energy and felt less bloated.

We spoke to Josh about all things kombucha, gut health and how a children's book was the inspiration behind the name Momo. 

To get 15% off your next order on Momo's website use the code GROW15!

PS - apologies for the poor audio quality, a mixture of a faulty microphone and a sore throat from Zoe!

To find out more, visit momo-kombucha.com and make sure to follow them on Instagram @momokombucha

If you enjoyed this episode please be sure to leave a like, share or a review as it really helps support what we do.

See you guys next time!

Zoe

On the final episode of the first series (!) of Getting to Grow, we were joined by Joe Hill, co-founder of One Planet Pizza, a brand creating delicious pizzas that don’t harm the planet.

Together with his Dad Mike, Joe created One Planet Pizza out of a passion to make mouth-watering pizzas that are great for you and the planet. They call it 'pizza with purpose'. In 2014, Mike and Joe started making their own plant-based pizzas at home, experimenting with ingredients and plant-based cheezes. Mike & Joe noticed that plant-based frozen pizzas just weren’t up to scratch. Wanting to create a go-to plant-based alternative to their much-loved freezer staple, they started One Planet Pizza from Mike’s garage using their family recipe. 

Local success led One Planet Pizza to become the UK’s first plant-based business to crowdfund, reaching their goal thanks to investors from all over Europe. Roll on a few years and One Planet Pizza are one of the leading plant-based pizza brands in the UK with huge plans for the future. And its not just about the pizza. As well as being vegan, One Planet plant 1 tree for every 50 pizzas and use recyclable materials where possible.

You can now find their delicious (and sustainable) range of plant-based pizzas across over 500 outlets in the UK including Wholefoods and Booths as well as online on Ocado or their D2C website.

We spoke to Joe about how a night in the pub led to the humble beginnings of the brand, the scaling up process and why taste is so important.

To find out more, visit www.oneplanetpizza.com and make sure to follow them on Instagram @oneplanetpizza

If you enjoyed this episode please be sure to leave a like, share or a review as it really helps support what we do.

See you guys next time!

Zoe & Sam

This week Zoe and Sam were joined by Grayson Hart, founder of Pure Sport, a CBD based brand aiming to deliver the highest quality products to their customers.

Pure Sport CBD was created out of a real athlete’s yearning for healthy, safe, and legal alternatives to deal with pain relief. Following a string of knee injuries, Glasgow Warriors’ scrum-half Grayson Hart was seeking an effective remedy to his constant joint pain. Even though he received quality physio treatment at the club, there was no noticeable improvement of his excruciating condition.

Naturally, all of the prescriptive drugs he used produced various adverse effects on his mind and body: he felt lethargic, unmotivated, and also suffered from disrupted sleep. In light of this wholly negative impact on his body, he began to search for natural alternatives to his growing problem.

After CBD (cannabidiol) and its benefits were widely recognised within the United States, but not so much in the UK, Grayson was eager to try it out. The CBD had a transformative effect as it allowed him to completely come off pain killers and continue with his career unimpeded. Grayson put his head together with teammate Adam Ashe and the two decided to try and create the world’s most trusted and effective CBD products and be a brand that created a community that helped raise awareness on the benefits of natural alternatives to optimise the lives of people from all walks of life.

We spoke to Grayson about his journey from pro athlete to founder of a fastly growing start-up.

To find out more about Pure Sport, visit www.puresportcbd.com and make sure you follow them on Instagram @puresportcbd

Make sure you follow, like and subscribe to Getting to Grow on whatever platform you listen on as it really helps support what we do!

See you guys next time!

Zoe and Sam

On episode 13 of Getting to Grow, we were delighted to be joined by Adam Sopher, Co-founder of Joe & Seph's. Joe & Seph's are a family business that launched in 2010 with a mission to produce the best-tasting popcorn in the world. 

Adam's Dad Joseph used to take regular trips to the USA, each time returning with flavoured popcorn as gifts for friends and family. Realising there was nothing quite like this in the UK, he wondered if he could make my own flavoured popcorn, but even better. Joseph began by air-popping the corn and coating it in a smooth caramel made from fresh butter rather than what was the standard British way of popping it in an oil and sugar mix.

He then discovered that by using 100% natural ingredients and a unique "flavour-sequencing" process they could lock in flavours so that they flourished on the palate at different intervals as you're eating the popcorn. After many burnt pans and late night tasting sessions in the family kitchen, together with his wife and Adam, they took their popcorn to a food show in 2010 where it sold out in just two days. Shortly after, they achieved their first prestigious retail listing and...Joe & Seph's Gourmet Popcorn was born.

Today, Joe & Seph's can be found all across the UK in multiple outlets and have a range of over 50 flavours of popcorn, 10 caramel sauces and are proud to have won over 40 Great Taste Awards!

We spoke to Adam about what it's like working in a family business, how the pandemic affected them and what a day to day looks like as a founder of an FMCG brand.

To find out more, visit www.joeandsephs.co.uk and make sure you follow them on Instagram @joeandseph 

Make sure you follow, like and subscribe to Getting to Grow on whatever platform you listen on as it really helps support what we do!

See you guys next time!

Zoe and Sam

This episode we were delighted to be joined by Neil and Rachel, founders of vegan fast-food restaurant and brand, The Vurger Co.

Co-founder Neil suffered with debilitating stomach issues and no doctor or test could pin-point the cause. With a big birthday impending, Rachel & Neil took the time to travel to California and discovered a whole new wave of plant-based living! The amazing tastes and textures were like nothing they had experienced and certainly weren’t available in London at the time in 2016.

Settling back into their day to day lives, they couldn’t believe how restricted their diet became. They couldn’t access great fresh vegan food packed with so many awesome textures. So immediately, they knew that there was an incredible opportunity to create a brand that made vegetables the main event, in fun, interesting and fresh new ways.

The Vurger Co started as a small market stall back in 2016 just to test their concept and gain that initial immediate feedback! Having quickly realised that their customers wanted the full experience from them, Neil & Rachel developed from market stall to events, pop ups, festivals and progressed to crowdfunding their first ever restaurant in Shoreditch in March 2018. Today they operate 4 restaurants in London, Manchester and Brighton as well as some delicious sauces that are now available in retail.

We spoke to Rachel & Neil about how the trip to California changed the way they thought about food, they’re humble beginnings as a market stall in 2016, and the effects the pandemic had on their business.

If you enjoyed this episode please remember to share, like subscribe and all of that good stuff as it really supports what we do.

Make sure you follow The Vurger Co on Instagram - @thevurgerco

& follow us on Instagram: @gettingtogrow

See you guys next time!

Sam & Zoe

This week we were joined by Caspar Rose, CEO of the UK's #1 bespoke nutrition brand, Fresh Fitness Food.

Fresh Fitness Food was founded by Jared Williams, to try and solve the age-old problem of how to eat healthy, consistently and well with little time to do any of the preparation that usually goes with it.

From what started in a 'pokey' Notting Hill flat, Fresh Fitness Food is now the UK's number 1 bespoke nutrition brand, helping each of their customers eat nutritious food, every single day to transform the lives of the time poor.

Fresh Fitness food aims to deliver the ultimate convenience, direct to your door. Their in house nutritionists and experts crate highly personalised plans to give you structure and consistency to make your goals, whatever they may be, achievable. 

We spoke to Caspar about growing up in Byron Bay, cheffing at Michelin Star restaurants and how he became CEO of a rapidly growing start up.

To find out more about Fresh Fitness Food please visit: www.freshfitnessfood.com & be sure to follow them on Instagram @freshfitnessfood

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a like and a review as it really helps support what we do.

Make sure to follow us on Instagram: @gettingtogrow

See you guys next time!

Sam & Zoe