Page 22 - Food & Drink Business Nov-Dec 2019

✷ RISING STAR
Stellar start-ups
The rise in number of artisan and start-up food companies in the food and beverage sector is continuing apace, fuelled in part by the surging wellness trend, growing demand for locally-made healthy products and the availability of contract manufacturing and short-run packaging options for smaller businesses. At Food & Drink Business we have long supported small food businesses at start-up stage with editorial profiles, and many have grown into thriving SMEs. We hand-picked ten new companies to feature in every issue this year. As a follow-on to the full length feature on Natural Evolution (page 18), we bring you a snapshot of the other Rising Stars that graced our pages in 2019.
Just add innovation
As the first in a new category, Australia’s inaugural hemp water Plus Hemp hit shelves to great acclaim.
SEVEN weeks after launching her first product, Natalie Moubarak, founder of Plus Hemp, had already hit her six-month business goals – but her success was far from a walk in the park.
Plus Hemp, the first in the brand-new category of hemp
water, was the result of 18 months of scientific, production and marketing research, plus some $100,000 in funding. But initially Moubarak had faced a constant stream of rejection to even find distributors and retailers willing to take it on.
The story goes that it was
after the profitable sale of her successful café serving organic, gluten-free and dairy-free foods, that Moubarak had turned her attention to educating herself on hemp.
Because the product had, until recently, been illegal for human consumption, Moubarak couldn’t find many food technicians who were familiar with it. She did however, find one with experience in health, herbs and superfoods.
“It was so exciting when we heard it was legalised. After that, I remember my mother and I with a food tech, finalising a formula.
“Ithought,‘okay,thisfeels like we’re halfway’,” she said.
Moubarak has found her product has appeal across wide
Bottled benefits: A healthy alternative in the non- carbonated beverage category.
demographics. “It’s for everyone. People that I thought wouldn’t drink the water, do. I’m getting feedback from over-65s, from pregnant women, people into fitness, those aged between 25-35, and I know mums give it to their children as an alternative to juice and just normal water. So my target market is endless
– it’s for everyone.”
Within the first two months, Plus Hemp was in just over 100 IGA supermarkets in Sydney. Stock had also hit retail shelves in Adelaide, Queensland and Byron Bay in IGAs and BP service stations, with a deal signed for 200 Metro Petroleum fuelstations. ✷
Natalie Moubarak starred on the panel at the Food & Drink Business + PKN LIVE Brands Behaving Bravely breakfast forum in October. See report on pages 8-14 of this issue.
22 | Food&Drink business | November-December 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au