Good Foodies: good food and good business

I’ve yet to meet a food entrepreneur that’s had a smooth ride on their business journey but today we’ve got a story that’s full of ups and downs.

Primal Pantry was started on a credit card. They experienced explosive growth in the early stages but struggled to produce enough product to meet demand. They had numerous cash flow issues and ran out of money on multiple occasions.

But the story has a much more positive ending! Learn how Suzie Walker went from a £10 website to a paleo brand worth £10 M in 6 years.

BOL produce a selection of fresh, healthy food for a number of eating occasions. They’re pioneering a plant-based movement and are on a mission to “sex up veg”.

Their initial concept was born inside Fruit Towers at innocent drinks and after successfully launching BOL in 2015 Paul and his team built the business to 10M in just two years.

But in 2017 Paul made a huge decision which literally halved their business overnight. And he says it’s the best decision he ever made. Tune in to this episode for the full story.

A few weeks ago LUSH UK made an announcement that they would be shutting down their social media accounts. This caused quite a stir in the social media and marketing world and prompted much debate at Sapling HQ. Join Kylie and Guy in this solo episode where we look at both sides of the question “is social media a waste of time?”.

We’d love to get your input too.

What do you use social media for? Do you find it effective? Does it provide a good return on your time, effort and money invested?

We’d love to get your input too. Chat to us on FB Messenger or get in touch via Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn to share your thoughts. (Yes, we’re still on social so you can still reach us that way!)

From a career in advertising to clinical depression to a life-changing trip to Africa. This is just the beginning of the story from Aduna co-founder Andrew Hunt. What happened next is a truly inspiring journey of building a social enterprise and unlocking a huge opportunity for rural households in some of the poorest parts of Africa.

Aduna makes a range of superfruit powders, teas and energy bars. They include ingredients such as cacao, tumeric and hibiscus as well as lesser known superfoods baobab, moringa, and fonio. These ingredients come from The Tree of Life (baobab), The Miracle Tree (moringa) and the Seed of the Universe (fonio). They have the potential to unlock a huge opportunity for the people of Africa. And that’s Aduna’s mission: to create sustainable incomes for rural African households by making these unknown ingredients famous.

Tune in to hear Andrew’s incredible story and the inspiring work that Aduna are doing with communities in some of the poorest parts of rural Africa

JimJams signature product is a chocolate spread with 83% less sugar than the leading brand. You’d think that something like this would be enough to secure a place on retailers’ shelves. But despite having a great product that solves a problem and tastes great, getting into supermarkets – and staying there – is a real challenge.

Join us on the Good Foodies podcast this week to hear the JimJams story and how they’re diversifying their sales channels to grow the brand and business. You’ll also hear how JimJams founder, Kevin ended up on live TV in his pajamas.

Do you find you’re most content when spending time alone? Or do you crave crowds and love going out? If you prefer peace and quiet then chances are you’re an introvert. And sometimes that can feel like a disadvantage when it comes to running a business.

I used to think that to be a business owner you have to be loud, brash, supremely confident and out-going. But that’s not the only way to be a leader or an entrepreneur.

Running a business does take passion and energy. You will need to stand up for your ideas and communicate them clearly to your team and other groups of people. But your introverted nature doesn’t have to hold you back. Kylie and I are both introverts (and sometimes don’t leave the house or interact with other humans for days at a time!) but we’ve found ways to work with our tendencies and temperament and embrace the benefits of being quiet, reflective, analytical and sensitive.

Join us in this bonus episode for an informal chat into the pros and cons of being an introvert in business.

What does it take to build a brand with purpose? Where do you start? How do you get to the essence of your message? And how do you communicate a creative way that gets the attention of your ideal customers?

Learn the steps to take in this episode as we chat to the founder and creative director of Giant Peach, a full service digital agency based in Wiltshire. They help brands of all sorts across the board but their passion is working with those that are trying to make a difference in the world.

Productivity and efficiency are the name of the game in this bonus episode. There’s always a lot to get done in your business and it often feels like there’s not enough hours in the day. But since there are a finite number of hours in the day and you no doubt have a long to-do list, what’s the best way to manage your time?

One solution that works for us is time blocking. In this episode Kylie and Guy will talk through their approach to time blocking step by step. And in the show notes we’ve got some visual examples to give you a clearer picture of what we’re talking about.

Do you have any top productivity tips? We’d love to hear them! Chat to us via FB Messenger or DM us on Instagram @saplingdigital.

Do you dream of seeing your own products on the supermarket shelves? Well, in this episode Dafna Bonas, founder at Indie Bay Snacks will give you the step by step roadmap they used to go from zero to 1000 stockists in just 18 months.

With a background in marketing and tech, the Indie Bay team set about solving a big problem in the snack category and have reinvented an old classic with exciting ingredients and an innovative twist. Learn the three core pillars of marketing and a four-stage expansion plan for getting your products into the stores and into the hands and mouths of customers up and down the country.

Do you have grand plans to start, grow, scale and sell your food business? Would you prefer more of a lifestyle business? Regardless of your goals, John Stapleton has some great advice for you. John started New Covent Garden Soup in 1987. He started Glencoe Foods in 1997 (pretty much the same business as New Covent Garden, but in the United States). He then started his third business, Little Dish, in 2006. Two out of the three were successfully built and sold – Little Dish sold for £17 million in 2017!

Over the last 30 years John has learned to embrace adversity, have the courage of his convictions, learn from failure and the power of authenticity. And that’s exactly what we talk about in this episode.