Co-Founder at Nutrilicious. They’re an awesome start-up who are ready to take on the snacking industry with their healthy chocolate coated pumpkin seeds! Amit tells all, from his journey so far, to the exciting journey ahead…
So, tell us all about Nutrilicious!
We’re a company run by two best friends who want to make snacks that are tasty and healthy. We love chocolate (who doesn’t) and wanted to find a way to be able to enjoy that delicious taste all the time but without all the sugar!
Nutrition: What does it mean to you?
So this is something that’s quite important to me, I work out a fair bit and as anyone who knows about working out, they’ll always tell you it’s 20% about the workout and 80% about what you eat. This stuck with me and I’ve always tried to eat fresh and healthy food. Everyone cheats now and then and
“Sometimes you need to eat things that aren’t good for you but it’s all about balance and finding what works best for you.”
Being more specific with it there’s the whole thing in the UK around calories and people believing if they eat less calories they’ll avoid putting on weight or lose weight etc but what they fail to see is what those calories are made of. The best example is with this whole under 100 calorie snack theory, well 24g of sugar is only 96 calories yet we know that’s not healthy so just because something is under 100 calories doesn’t mean it’s actually healthy.
Where did the idea for Nutrilicious come from?
From eating too much chocolate haha. I’m allergic to nuts and pretty much most of the snacks that are healthier seem to be made with nuts. This is a big part of why we use pumpkin seeds in our snacks. The other is that
“They’re full of fantastic nutrition from protein to fibre, vitamins, minerals and they’re really low in carbohydrates”
We wanted to make eating chocolate healthier so we knew we’d be combining healthy with tasty which is where we got the idea for Nutrilicious as the name is quite clear about what our products are about.
In the future, what do you want the company culture at Nutrilicious to be like?
We’re quite mission-driven, whether it be to do with our products and helping people satisfy their chocolate cravings in a healthier way, helping people better understand healthy eating in general to our charitable contribution to the Big Hug Foundation who help disadvantaged kids get access to food, healthcare, education & shelter.
We’d want to continue this culture of being purpose driven and trying to do things that help affect peoples lives for the better.
Were there any moments that you thought Nutrilicious wouldn’t become a reality?
Most definitely! There’s always something that can go wrong and then usually does. For us, it was to do with whether we could achieve the pricing we were aiming for. We looked in the market and saw a whole variety of snacks with varying prices from under £1 to £2 plus and for some of the products we just looked at them and felt that is not good value for money. We really wanted our range to not only be healthy and made from the best ingredients (we use 100% Organic ingredients) but to also be affordable and feel like good value for money to consumers. We worked hard and were supported by our suppliers to stick with us and help us get our costs down and get to where we wanted to be. We also learned a valuable lesson,
“We didn’t have to negotiate or be difficult with any of our suppliers, we were honest”
explained what we’re trying to achieve and they helped how they could which shows that sometimes being nice and working with people does have its benefits.
I’m sure you’ve faced a range of problems, how do you tackle the challenges that arise?
You have to be thick-skinned in a food start-up especially with the constant rejection that you’re going to receive at the start. We try to tackle all problems the same way – first, we stay calm and not act like it’s the end of our world (which can definitely be difficult at times). Once the panicking is over, we’ll look at what the problem is and we’ll go about seeing what needs to be done to fix it in the best possible way
What are you most excited about for Nutrilicious?
To hear peoples’ thoughts and reactions to trying our products. There’s nothing better as a food business than hearing people enjoy your food or meeting them in person and seeing how they react to it.
What’s the single, most important, piece of advice you could give to an upcoming start-up?
Everything won’t go to plan so be ready to act fast and always have about 10 backup solutions for every step of your business
Where can people find your sumptuous snacks?
We’ve recently launched on Amazon and we’re working hard to try and have them stocked across the country through health stores, independents, large supermarkets, and even vending machines. Our website is always up-to-date with information on where we’re available and through social media (@NUTRILICIOUSME) where we’ll be sharing creative ways to enjoy healthy eating
What are your greatest ambitions for Nutrilicious, what are you already doing to make those ambitions a reality?
We hope to be able to help people eat better and at the same time be able to enjoy what they’re eating. With the hope of this range doing well, we want to build on this and provide new options for people and go beyond just healthy snacks
Also, the more people who like and eat our snacks, the more we can help children through The Big Hug Foundation.
Are you dying to try their delicious healthy snacks? You can get your fix from Amazon here. They’re also running a 40% of promotion, so get in quick! We can’t wait to see what lies ahead for Nutrilicious, but we know it’ll be amazing.
