How To Grow A Food Business with Relish Marketing

Anna Gorman never set out to start a food manufacturing business. After 20 years in hospitality, she opened a vegan café - two weeks before the first lockdown. However, it would lead her to create a product that Vegans simply love and many thought was impossible to get right.
With time on her hands, she decided to crack something notoriously difficult: vegan Yorkshire puddings. Seven weeks of trial and error later, she opened the oven to find they'd finally worked. What started as a menu item for her 30-seat café became a nationally distributed product when customers began asking to take them home, then emailing from around the country to request postal deliveries.
In this episode, Anna shares how she built Plantside with no business plan, no formal consumer testing, and no marketing - just experience, passion and a product people genuinely craved.
What we cover:
Why Anna chose "plant-based" over "vegan" on the packaging
How she established collab with THIS sausages
The challenge of convincing non-vegan chefs to stock a product their vegan customers are desperate for
The moment she nearly quit - and the stranger whose kindness changed everything
Scaling a handmade product
The ethical tension between supermarket opportunities and supporting the independents who backed her first
Key timestamps:
01:02 — Plant Side's mission: spreading joy and happiness through food
02:48 — Opening a café two weeks before lockdown
03:23 — Seven weeks of failed Yorkshire pudding recipes
04:43 — "We accidentally created a whole business with no business plan"
05:39 — The THIS sausages collaboration for Toad in the Hole
09:25 — Why "vegan" makes people shut down but "plant-based" doesn't
10:47 — "You can't take the word of a six-year-old" — on consumer testing
17:51 — The hardest part: getting non-vegans to understand vegan demand
20:05 — The eureka moment opening the oven
21:28 — Feeling out of her depth at a packaging trade show
22:42 — "I would have quit" — the stranger who changed everything
24:02 — The supermarket dilemma: growth vs ethics
Where to find Plant Side:
Website: https://plantside.co/
Online stockists:
Mighty Plants: https://mightyplants.com/collections/vendors?q=Plantside
Jennings Pantry: https://jenningsplantry.co.uk/collections/vendors?q=Plantside
Kiuki (formerly TheVeganKind): https://kiuki.com/o/plantside
In-store: Find Plantside products in independent vegan shops and health food stores nationwide
-- My name is Jo Densley, and I help food and drink businesses grow with joined-up sales and marketing. There’s a wealth of free webinars available on my website, where you can also explore my services and read my case studies as well.

What happens when a doctor, an engineer, a financial controller and a farmer start a drinks business? How do you start a vodka brand when you don't know how to make it? How did their creamy, smooth potato-based vodka win a raft of awards before they'd even sold a single bottle?
In this episode, Jo Densley dives into the journey of Nine Tines, the premium spirit that's putting Yorkshire on the vodka map. Founders Gwen Bromley and Richard Smith (the doctor and the engineer) explain how their passion for Yorkshire's landscape and produce inspired them to craft a premium potato-based vodka using locally grown ingredients, all within a nine-mile radius. They share insights and experiences from starting the business, actually learning to make vodka, designing and honing the process, and putting authenticity and sustainability at the heart of their business. 
Listen to this episode to find out:
The secret most other vodkas don't want you to know 
What's different about Nine Times and how did it win gold over products from the likes of Pernod Ricard and Diageo
The diverse skills the four founders bring to the team
What went into creating their meaningful and elegant branding
What they've learned about taking their product to market
The partnerships that have been key to growing the business
 
This episode is essential listening for anyone building a premium food or drink brand who wants to understand how provenance, craft, and patient brand-building can create genuine competitive advantage - even in a crowded market.
 
Find out more about Nine Tines and buy online:https://ninetines.co.uk/
 
-- My name is Jo Densley, and I help food and drink businesses grow with joined-up sales and marketing. There’s a wealth of free webinars available on my website, where you can also explore my services and read my case studies as well.

The Marshmallowist was the UK’s first producer of gourmet marshmallows. Marrying innovation and indulgence, they’re like nothing you’ve ever tasted. Led by sisters Oonagh and Jenny Simms, their first stockist was Harvey Nichols, and they were soon featured in Vogue. They’ve joined The Hairy Bikers on TV, published a book, and this year were stocked nationwide as part of Marks & Spencer’s Mother’s Day activity. How have they done it?
Join Jo Densley as she explores the journey of The Marshmallowist, how they’ve built a team, and kept focused on inventive flavours and artisanal craftsmanship. Discover how they went from Portobello Road market stall to nationwide recognition, collaborating with retailers like Fortnum & Mason and Marks & Spencer. They share insights on managing seasonality, sustaining creativity, and nurturing a dedicated team, all while navigating the complexities of the food industry.
Listen to How to Grow a Food Business with The Marshmallowist to learn:
How Oonagh found out whether she had a good idea for a food business
How they approach product development and new flavours
The importance of partnerships and relationships in growing
How they won a nationwide listing with M&S for Mother’s Day 2025 – and how long it took
All about getting featured on TV and what it does for sales
The factors and moments that have been most important in the growth of the business
Try their amazing marshmallows and teacakes for yourself at www.themarshmallowist.com.
-- My name is Jo Densley, and I help food and drink businesses grow with joined-up sales and marketing. There’s a wealth of free webinars available on my website, where you can also explore my services and read my case studies as well.