Setting up a food brand - Suzy Smith

How did you come with the idea Suzy?

I came up with the innovative idea for Bace Foods when my son was weaning. I was trying to give him food that would get his palate used to a variety of flavours, and made purees that I weaved into family meals, like soups and chilli. It meant they were all getting the veg they didn’t normally eat.

Founder Suzy Smith

When did you launch?

We’ve been going for only seven months now.

What advice would you give a parent about to set up a business different to their previous job?

Talk to people who are already doing it, people are so helpful. Do as much as you can yourself. Don’t wait - lots of people think they need to write a business plan and delay launching for 6-12 months, we advise to just launch. Get feedback, and tweak as you go. We’ve done over 30 shows, it has been a rollercoaster! We sometimes wonder why are doing this, and then the creativity, the freedom and ownership feels good.

How do you manage the business round the school run?

We literally pack up the van with all our equipment two mornings a week after the kids are at school, we head to our kitchen and produce as many pots as we can. The other days (and nights) of the week, we’re contacting potential stockists, building our social media, devising new recipes, planning and actually, we never really switch off!

More info here

Kitchen hacks for people who want to spend less time cooking but want to be healthy (catchy headline!)

Being a food marketing person who can’t cook, and is defeated by meal plans, food shopping, cooking, all of it, these products are genius. In fact, it’s safe to say my husband has been doing more and more of the cooking. When you know you’re no good at it, there’s little motivation. HOWEVER I came across Bace Foods in the EDP in the summer, and then met them by chance at a local school fete. These products are helping us, so I went to meet them so I could share this kitchen hack with you.

It’s a range of base sauces made by a mum and dad in Hethersett. I LOVE them. It’s a cooking hack that saves time chopping veg, and gets a variety of veg into your cooking that your family might not eat in its natural state. Suzy and Steve spend hours and hours cooking British beans and peas, blending with vegetables and hand filling tubs - and that is the base for your chilli, curry, soup, baked eggs, pretty much anything!

They are totally on trend - plant based, helps reduce meat consumption, vegan, British, healthy, they tick all the boxes. Before I go on - you can buy at their online shop (free delivery if you spend more than £10 in Norfolk), and at tonnes of farm shops round the county. I asked Suzy to make us (as in, you and me) a meal plan using Bace. So the idea is, you have a stock of Bace Foods in your fridge or freezer, and you can turn your hand to these easy, easy recipes. I know in general food bills are high, so I asked Suzy to cost each recipe per head, and they range from £1.03 per person to £2.17. Not bad!

When you use these sauces instead of your own chopped veg, it gives a better depth of flavour, makes it tastier and gives your meal more nutrients. There are no preservatives, the sauces are hot filled which makes them last without preservatives.

The process is a real labour of love: pulses are soaked the night before, all the stones are removed, the veg is prepared, peeled and cleaned. The pulses are pressure cooked to all have the same tender consistency in three huge pressure cookers. The veg is cooked and then blended to a smooth consistency, and the herbs and flavour is added now or after. After blending the veg in the pan with the pulses, it is all heated, and then carefully hand filled into pots.

Not only are busy mums like us finding it a good kitchen hack, but schools and care homes are buying catering size packs - imagine all our kids and relatives getting such goodness, easily.

The products are:

beans with benefits

carlin peas with perks

green peas with perks

You’ll find Bace Foods at a variety of stockists in Norfolk and they sell online across the country.