We started making the drinks in a little sandwich shop in Central London.
We were just walking past the shop, and seeing the kitchen wasn’t being used we went in and asked if we could set up there. To our surprise, they agreed on the spot.
I had trail mix (raisins, peanuts and M&Ms) back in the late 2000’s on a hiking trip in the Grand Canyon.
When I got back to the UK I started snacking on it regularly to fuel my Ironman triathlon training and kept wondering why there was nothing like it on the market.
With my background, I always knew “it could be done” – ie. Produce a chocolate product that could be all natural and still nutritionally beneficial.
The Eureka moment came when I saw a glaring gap in the Impulse chocolate / biscuit market and decided that I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, but just take well established concepts and give them a new DNA!
Our method, 1000%.
Activation is centuries old, it’s the process of soaking nuts & seeds in water to kickstart germination and was originally used by the Aztecs & Aborigines.
I get very over-excited about the next thing and getting it done, yesterday!
I am a big fan of that quote “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
The hardest part of starting the business was actually getting up and getting started.
Woodey Allen says 50% of success is turning up, so true...
It’s thanks to our Mum that our passion for good food came alive. Food has such an impact on you physically and mentally. We grew up eating delicious home cooked meals and always had healthy snacks instead of biscuits in the ‘snack draw’.
I’ve generally been a fairly shy person, I’m not a natural in front of a camera or when speaking in front of a large group, and can get embarrassed easily.
Since starting Plant Pops, this is something I’ve had to get over pretty quickly, as there’s just not a lot of time for it!
Whether it’s pitching to a group of people for investment, or talking about my brand to a journalist, I’m always trying to be better at this and continually pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
Amber was working for larger FMCG companies in sales and Seb was working in marketing and ad agencies.
Starting a business was always something we wanted to do to combine our passion for plants with business so it was the next logical step of our careers to make the leap!
