How did it all begin for BNUTZ?

How did it all begin for BNUTZ?

BNUTZ all started when I was at university. I was constantly in deliberating pain with a hugely swollen stomach. I had no energy, I was tired and did not feel 18 that's for sure! 

I was vegetarian at the time but with receiving the intitial diagnosis of IBS I decided to become vegan and cut out processed and refined foods. This helped manage the symptoms hugely and further down the line it lead to a final diagnosis of polycytic ovary syndrome. This lead to my intrigued path of the correlation of the gut and the mind. I learnt the importance of physical wellbeing and diet. 

With the change in diet to now being vegan it lead to religiously having to read the ingredients list on everything. there were many products which would label thierselves as being healthy although when looked into further it was found that they weren't! 

My change in diet to being vegan lead to some very concerned housemate, family and friends. Everyone was expressing that they were very worried that I wasn’t receiving enough protein. My go to protein was nut butter. I became a nut butter addicted, although now reading the ingredients list on the back of the products it made me aware that my go to peanut butter had sugar and palm oil in it. There wasn’t much awareness and footage at the time on palm oil and the destruction it was causing, I was made aware of the issue at college when I was studying world development. I decided to make my own nut butters to avoid this problem. I would take the nut butters to university and use them as a dip for my fruit and veg. Surprisingly this generated a lot of interest, people in my class would ask if they could have a jar and the love of nut butter was shared. 

Shortly after graduating I went travelling, the time I spent travelling I packed lots of books on the law of attraction, listened to my intuition and my life changed quickly! 

My time in Thailand I travelled up north, and stayed with a hill tribe (lisu tribe) I was able to witness how they made nut butter, they used nuts all the time and would grind the nuts down using rocks (pestle and mortar effect). There way of life and practical medicine (shaman) was fascinating. They're explanation of illnesses/diseases was due to spirits such as water spirits, mountain spirits and fire spirits. The women in the tribe were notably very strong willed and powerful women. I found this very inspiring. 

After my travels to Thailand I went on to visit my grandparents in Jamaica, here I discovered how incredible coconut sugar and coconut oil is, their microbiological properties, immune boosting and antibacterial properties. 

When I returned from my travels I longed  to pursue a career in mental health. A few of my family members suffer from mental health problems, with this I have become a practical psychologist! It made me a pleaser with extreme drive. Suffering in my life, makes me not want anyone else to experience suffering. I have an obsession to help people, everyone has a purpose and this is mine. Were meant to grow so we have something to give. Make your life a masterpiece, we grow through each experience we have. 

BNUTZ PHILOSOPHY

We believe in 100% transparency and forming direct relationships with the farmers growing the produce. BNUTZ premium nut butters are authentic, innovative and vegan friendly. Guaranteeing all our ingredients are sustainably sourced and our jars are free from from additives, preservatives and palm oil. We ensure that our jars and packaging used are recyclable.

What advice would you offer to anyone wanting to start up their own food business?

If you have a burning desire and the passion then do it, however know your point of difference. Find a niece in the market and really shout about how you are so different. Be resilient, there are going to be lots of obstacles that you will encounter along the way, its just important to keep going and jump at every hurdle you come up against. 

Giving back?

As part of our philosophy we have committed to help fund projects to improve quality of lives  helping children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in west Africa. B currently donates to a charitable foundation: Mana.