Ann Perkins, founder of Perkier shares her entrepreneurship journey and inspiration for and growth and success of the brand.
Can you tell us a little about your background and the company?
Perkier is the UK’s fastest growing healthy snack bar. Every snack we make tastes good, does you good and doesn’t mess up the planet!
My background is in the food industry working in consumer insight and marketing roles. Our name is a mashup of our founders’ surnames Perkins and Turner (Ann and Steve)
How did the idea come to you for the company?
I needed to remove gluten and dairy from my diary for health reasons and struggled to find tasty, healthy snacks that also cared for the planet. So I started experimenting in the kitchen and selling my snacks at food shows and the rest is history!
How did you achieve awareness?
Social media and digital advertising – and pre-covid we attended lots of consumer food shows and sports events
How have you been able to gain funding and grow?
Steve and I self-funded Perkier for the first few years, and we completed a crowd funding raise in 2021 which was hugely successful!
What are the key successes?
- UK fastest growing healthy snack bar!
- Selling in Sainsburys, ASDA and Morrisons!
- Achieving 4.9 star rating for taste!
- Going carbon neutral
What were/are the challenges and how have you overcome these?
Covid was extremely challenging, but we pivoted and flipped our focus from food-to-go into ecommerce. Luckily food-to-go is coming back, and ecommerce is in strong growth
What are your plans now/for the future?
To double to size of our business every year for the next 5 years, perking up the UK and beyond with our healthier, tastier and more sustainable snacks!
What would you like to share with others to encourage them to start their own entrepreneurship journey?
Find something you are passionate about and where you can offer a significant point of difference and go for it! The highs are way higher, and the lows are way lower than you can imagine but enjoy the journey – it is such a privilege to grow your own company
Can you share your top tips for entrepreneurial success?
- If not you than who? If not now then when? i.e. get started!
- Be ambitious
- Ask for help
- Don’t see barriers, find solutions
- Don’t Give up!
Who are the 5 people who inspire you the most and why?
- A great leader for me has a clear and powerful vision, is courageous, has integrity, honesty, humility and can set out clear areas of focus
- President Zelensky – A leader with complete integrity and inspiring leadership in the most horrendous situation I can imagine.
- From business I’ll go for Nick Jenkins from MoonPig, John Caudwell Phone4u, Steve Jobbs (Apple), Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
What are your favourite inspirational /motivational quotes?
- “Be brave, be curious, be determined, overcome the odds. It can be done” Thanks to Stephen Hawking
- “Be decisive and if you can delegate a job do!” Thanks to Nick Jenkins from Moon Pig
What are your Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn social handles and also website links so our readers can connect with you?
@perkierfoods
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