With Fonterra, Heinz Wattie’s and Hellers on her CV, Brenda Trotman, the new owner of fermented food company Be Nourished has overhauled the 14-year-old company’s sales force, moved into a new rented factory and set up an all-in-one inventory and ordering system since buying it from founder Joanna Nolan for an undisclosed amount in June last year.
“I am passionate about food and wellbeing. I am a chef by trade with a depth of sales experience within the Food Service sector and I love the diverse nature of the New Zealand Food Industry,” Trotman notes on the company’s website.
“My dream for Be Nourished is to nurture the growth of the business, develop a great team, and grow our organic portfolio, focusing on local New Zealand produce.”
The company has also recently employed marketing activation agency BrandSpec, added a new sales force, and brought distribution in-house. The result of all the changes has been a 30 percent increase in production and the launch of new products, which has led to a 30 percent uptick in sales in the past six months.
The company’s Auckland factory now processes around 4-5 tonnes of raw, pesticide-free vegetable material from organic New Zealand suppliers for a range of organic kimchi, sauerkraut and gut shot products, available in 12 SKUs.
This year, it released a new krautchi product and the once-seasonal dill pickle sauerkraut is now sold all-year around. The products are available in around 230 stockists including specialty and organic food stores, Countdown,’ Pak’n Save and New World outlets with supermarkets getting behind the booming plant-based and fermented foods products.
The company is in the process of earning a BioGro certification with an audit of the factory and production coming up next month. Former owner Nolan remains working in the business alongside Trotman developing new products with releases planned for early 2022.
