If you don’t have a jar or carton of Pip & Nut in your cupboard then you would have at least seen it on the shelves of your local supermarket. Since she got her first nut butter stocked in Selfridges in 2015, founder Pippa Murray has taken her brand continental, earning her a spot in Forbes 30 Under 30 for 2018. Here’s how she did it…
Where do you live in London and what do you like about the area?
I’ve lived in London over 10 years now and after moving around a fair bit, I’m definitely a South London girl. For me Stockwell as an area isn’t necessarily the most exciting of places but what it does do is offer you proximity to other areas like Brixton and Battersea which I love heading to for dinner. It’s also super close to the river and one of my favourite things is being able to go for a 30 minute run that takes me over Battersea Bridge over to Chelsea Bridge and back home again. Whether I’ll be here for a long time I’m not so sure but for now it suits me down to the ground.
What inspired you to create Pip & Nut?
Pip & Nut was actually inspired by my love of running and my love of peanut butter! I used to run a lot (and still do as often as I can) and would always eat peanut butter on toast as a post-run treat. However at some point it dawned on me that most brands available on the supermarket shelves at the time were packed full of unnecessary ingredients like palm oil and refined sugar. I believed there was space for a healthier alternative that still tasted delicious but also was a bit more exciting from a flavour point of view. Almond butter in particular was yet to be available in mainstream supermarkets so I felt there was a massive gap here. The next steps were pretty simple. I bought a blender and began experimenting in my kitchen and the idea for Pip & Nut was born.
[easy-image-collage id=105368]What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced since starting a food brand and what advice would you give to people starting their own?
In a start-up business there are daily challenges and you are having to constantly learn and adapt. One of the earliest challenges I faced was sourcing a manufacturing partner to produce my nut butters. As a young entrepreneur with no experience it took about six months to find a factory that would work with me and was able to produce the products that I wanted. Having said that, I’m glad I took my time during this stage as it is vital to find the right partners for your business.
In terms of advice for new entrepreneurs: You must believe in your offering – whether that is a product or service – and if you are not 100% behind the idea then you should either look to improve upon the product itself or try something new altogether. Get good advice and find a great mentor – ideally you want to find someone who has relevant experience and is sympathetic to the trials and tribulations of start up life. My mentor has been an invaluable support over the past few years and has been with me through the ups and the downs – I couldn’t have done it without him.
Just start! It is easy to get caught up in months and sometimes even years of planning without ever moving forwards with the idea but the most important thing is to just get cracking. Even if it means producing a much more simplified version of the product you’ll benefit from getting the idea out of your head and into a physical product. Then when you have the product get it in front of as many consumers as possible!
[easy-image-collage id=105378]You’ve expanded from nut butters into nut milks, where do you see Pip & Nut going next?
My vision for Pip & Nut has always been to be a multi-category brand available across the UK, and beyond. We invest a lot in innovation and are always looking at how we can create new, exciting (and delicious) products that fit with our company values. We are always looking at how we can innovate within our current categories (nut butters and almond milks) but also at where we can go next. 2019 will see our next new product range, which I am very excited about.
Describe your perfect day in London.
A perfect Sunday for me would be a late-ish brunch, ideally at one of my favourite restaurants like the Ace Hotel or Dishoom in Shoreditch. From there I’d stretch my legs, wandering down Redchurch Street to mooch round the independent stores like Labour and Wait or Aesop. From there it’s a stones throw from Columbia Road flower market where I’d haggle with the traders for a bunch of flowers, when it’s nearly 12pm you can get a steal! Following there head on up to London Fields where I’d laze around in the park. In the evening I’d either pop to the cinema, somewhere like the Picturehouse in Hackney or Screen on the Green in Angel and grab a pizza at Homeslice for dinner- yum!