Three ways this foodpreneur has grown her business while staying true to her ethical roots
Two years ago we interviewed Stefania Pellegrino, the founder of plantain snack brand We Love Purely. Since then her business has grown from strength to strength, while staying true to its ethical vision.
It has been important to Stef from the very beginning that We Love Purely adopted a coherent, long-term strand of ‘Caring Capitalism’ that gave back to the proud Ecuadorian food production community with whom her Birmingham-based business collaborates so closely.
From the very moment the business was born it was decided that this popular street food should continue to be produced at source in Ecuador since the local community’s unrivalled plantain prowess would ensure that the resulting range, albeit showcasing popular European flavours: Chilli, Garlic & Lightly Salted that would far surpass (in terms of taste and crunch) anything that currently resided within the UK snack scene.
With this vision at the heart of We Love Purely, here are three ways Stef has remained true to her ethical roots, while growing her business.
1) HFSS compliance and avoiding palm oil
It was imperative to Steph that this ‘leading light’ within the UK’s permissible snacking scene never dabbled with palm oil and was made in such a way that ensured this soon-to-be expanded range was not only low in calories and high in good gut health fibre but HFSS compliant, the newest barometer by which the British Government will crack down on needlessly high fat, sugar & salt snacking consumption.
2) Smaller portion packs
The second strand of responsible snacking thinking meant moving beyond magnificently more-ish snack packs to include a secondary range of portion perfect snatch bags, which were not only lunchbox and healthy vending friendly but in perfectly in tune with today’s less is more healthier living mantra.
3) Work with a local charity
Most importantly of all however was the necessity to seek out and back an Ecuador based charity as their own unique way of saying thank you to a supportive, food-loving community who’d worked tirelessly with Steph’s Birmingham team to back the business’s long-term, healthier snacking aspirations.
This June saw the one-year anniversary when We Love Purely first aligned with the Casa Hogar de Balen caring centre, a non-government funded initiative which gives shelter, food and hope to children who have become unwitting victims of the region’s ever worsening ‘food poverty’ slump.
Steph says:
“We witnessed first-hand the support and momentum that even a business our size can give to such an incredible grass roots programme that provides shelter, education, housing and safety to vulnerable children who have been unceremoniously abandoned by despairing parents who have no-one to turn to and no meaningful state infrastructure to lean upon in times of extreme hardship.“
Such has been the early doors success of the project that We Purely believes passionately that businesses of every imaginable size and ambition have a clear responsibility to celebrate their success by offering a helping hand to those with so much less!
Find out more about We Love Purely.
