Balance August 2018 - 34

FEEDING FRENZY

A hunger
for success
UK food & drink start-ups are
flourishing, increasing choice and
giving the big boys a bloody nose

ondon has long been known for its food.
From the traditions of pie & mash and
jellied eels, to the incredibly vibrant and
constantly-evolving restaurant scene, it's a
city full to bursting for the foodie. But the
product side of the business - building brands and selling prepacked goods - hasn't enjoyed the same success.
Opportunities for food and beverage (F&B) start-ups across
the country were traditionally curtailed by the giant fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) conglomerates and their
relationships with the equally giant supermarkets. However,
buoyed by consumer hunger for brands that match their
values, and the opportunities to reach those consumers
without spending the earth, F&B is now awash with young,
exciting start-ups - and London is ground zero.
Many F&B start-ups develop not because of a burning
need to make money, but out of love for a product or diet and
a desire to bring something better to the market. My own
business, pork crackling brand Snaffling Pig, was no different.
We knew nothing about the business of pubs or supermarkets
when we started, but the excitement of having a tangible
product we loved drove us to talk to anyone who would listen.
Passion tends to create some amazing start-up stories,
with inspired founders travelling the world for research,
spending countless hours in home kitchens and chasing down
manufacturers to take a chance on a new business. Once they
have a product, it's about doing the hardest of yards: selling at
markets and knocking on the doors of independents.

BREAKING WITH TRADITION
While it's not easy, having that grass roots foodie ecosystem
and the opportunities for real world feedback it presents,
is one area where London excels. Olly Hiscocks, founder of
Angel-based start-up, Olly's Olives, feels it was a fundamental
part of giving him the confidence in his business:
"After dowsing my parents' kitchen with oil (the stains still
exist in the wood today), I decided to test my olive concepts at
Duck Pond Market in Richmond in 2016 and got an incredibly
positive reaction. When we had returning customers
demanding somewhere to buy them during the week, we knew
it was time to look into retail."

Above: Green Grill,
vegan hotdogs
and burgers
Left: Spoon Cereals'
homemade granola
Below: Kaleidoscope's
salad rolls & magical
tubes

It's not all about physical
retail, though; London is an ideal
launchpad for businesses that use
technology to reach customers in
different ways. Brands like Graze
blazed the trail, and now there's a
wave of young businesses reaching
specific consumers without the aid
of traditional channels.
One example is All Plants who,
after soft launching in London, now
deliver frozen meals nationwide.
Owner Alex Petrides certainly felt
being based in the nation's creative
heartbeat has helped All Plants grow.
"London is home of food fashion in the UK. The latest
superfoods, tastes and plant-based creations appear
at street food markets and pop-up restaurants. At the
same time, there's a willingness to find new ways to lead
healthier, more sustainable lives."

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
It's still an incredibly hard industry to break, and what's been
missing is the supporting infrastructure to turbocharge the
community and propel ideas from kitchen tables to global
successes. But now that's also starting to change.
I remember the excitement of the rare times we got to chat
to another foodie business in our first year, and how much
we'd learn in the process, and it's that sense of community the
Young Foodies (YF) are driving.

BA LA N CE August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Balance August 2018