You may have seen Food For Health around before - on the shelves in the health food aisle of Coles or Woolworths (or numerous other stockists!), or even in our 2018 Winter Box (who remembers the delicious Coffee & Cacao Clusters!).
Narelle Plapp started Food For Health after years owning health food shops & working as a qualified Naturopath, and finding she was making up her own recipes to share with her clients when nothing off the shelf was clean and nutritious enough.
Food For Health's Almond & Chia Fruit Free Bars feature in our Autumn Box, because - put simply - we believe in the products Food For Health produce.
(oh, and because they are delicious!!)
We had a chat to Narelle to hear more about her story, and what an average day looks like for her.
Tell us a bit about the people behind your company
Founded by myself, a Naturopath and passionate healthy eating advocate, Food For Health has grown since inception in 2005 into a trusted, recognized brand in the health foods category in Australia.
As the business has grown, my team has too! My team and I are very passionate about creating food that is healthy, allergy friendly, clean and transparent. Food For Health’s range of mueslis, clusters, muesli bars and snack foods are created with our motto in mind “we are passionate about health for everyone!”
What inspired you to start your company and when did you start it?
It all began from patients’ needs. I developed 2 mueslis to support digestive issues and the results were amazing. My patients instantly felt better after incorporating the mueslis into their daily meal plan. The results gave me confidence to believe in myself and launch Food For Health onto the wider marketing in 2005.
What would an ‘average day of the life of’ look like for you?
- Alarm goes off at 5.30am.
- My me time is at the gym each weekday morning. I love exercising, it gets both my body and mind ready for the day ahead.
- After school drop off I head to the office. No 2 days are the same at FFH HQ. Products meetings, interviews, product development, strategy meetings…the list goes on! And that’s just how I like it.
- I aim to leave the office between 5-5.30 to get home to my 2 children.
- Then it’s into Mum mode. Dinner, bath, reading and bed and somewhere around 8.30 my husband and I eat dinner and catch up on each other’s day…or we flip up our laptops and start working again.
- Hopefully hop into bed around 10.30 and do it all again the next day.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
My 5.30am alarm gets me out of bed!
The fact that I love doing what I do and love working alongside my amazing team…this gets me out of bed. No day feels like work, life is one big journey that is here to be lived to the fullest.
What is your favourite product in your range?
I love our new Sea Salt & Caramel bars…OMG…to die for!
What experiences lead to the values you have instilled in your company?
The values we have at Food For Health are:
- Passion
- Honesty
- Communication
- Happiness
- Innovation
- Accountability
I think our values stem a lot from my personality and values as a person. Food For Health is a serious place of business but we have a lot of fun whilst doing it! We spend too much time at work not to have a bit of fun.
If you weren’t running your company, what would you be doing?
I would be happy being a stay at home mum….for a short time and then I would go nuts! I love the challenge of juggling motherhood and business.
I think if I wasn’t running FFH I would be renovating and flipping properties.
What is your favourite way of winding down and taking time out?
I love a winter Sunday in front of the fire, playing board games with my children… but I also love a summer day walking our dog on the beach….basically just hanging out and laying low.
Here at Retreat Yourself, we LOVE dreaming BIG – what is your vision for your company?
I want to help people find delicious healthier options and I want, even if in some small way, to improve people’s wellbeing by offering food that is made with nutritious quality ingredients. I am proud that we have no numbers on our ingredient list or don’t use glucose in our muesli bars. These little differences are only small but play a big part in your health.
For anyone out there wanting to start their own business, what would your biggest piece of advice be?
The 3 p’s: persistence, patience and passion.
The first few years of any startup are difficult and it can be too easy to throw your hands in the air and give up. Honestly for myself…its only really been the last 3 years that FFH has really kicked some major goals.
And lastly, what does a fulfilled life look like to you?
Healthy children and happy husband!
Our beautiful home that my family and I can hide from the world in together….and a Friday night glass of much deserved champagne!
You can read more about Food For Health's values and products on their website: www.foodforhealth.com.au.