Talking All Things Plant-based with Nourish Bud
Plant-based meal delivery service Nourish Bud have had a busy few months...
Tell me a bit about your backgrounds.
Luke: Both Rebecca and I are qualified chartered accountants. We worked in the industry together, and that’s actually how we met. We quit our jobs at the end of 2018 and saved up to go travelling for a year. Running my own business is something I’d always wanted to do, and while we were abroad we experienced lots of different flavours and plant-based meals, so we came up with the idea for Nourish Bud.
Rebecca: We are both very active and into health, fitness, and food. We had a ski season in France and then travelled to South East Asia and over to South and Central America, so we experienced a whole host of different flavours that we’d never come across before which really inspired us to have a more varied, plant-based diet.
Tell me about Nourish Bud.
Luke: We launched in March which, either fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, lined up with the start of the first lockdown. Thankfully, it didn’t have a negative impact on the business as people clearly became more conscious about their lifestyle choices during lockdown. Our meal packages can be tailored to suit (you can even select your daily calories) and can cover all meals and snacks for the week if that’s the way you want to go. All our meals are 100 percent plant-based so we don’t use any additives, preservatives or processed food. Everything is made from scratch – even the almond or coconut milk in our curries – to make them as healthy as possible.
Rebecca: I think plant-based and healthier diets are becoming more prominent and a lot of people are more interested in it, but the idea and practice can be quite daunting. A lot of people aren’t sure how to adapt what they usually make in the kitchen. We’re trying to fill that gap to make it easier for people to experiment with their food and try something new without the worry of what to make and how to make it.
Why is eating healthily so important?
Luke: It’s important for your physical health for obvious reasons, but for your mental health too. We spent a lot of time researching the benefits of plant-based eating and the knock-on effect on your mental health (in terms of your gut health linking into your brain health, boosting your mood and helping you sleep).
Rebecca: It’s really prominent for me for personal health reasons. I struggled massively with stomach issues and I’m also lactose-intolerant so I’d eaten dairy-free for a long time anyway. I actually found that when we changed our diet to be completely plant-based, it had a hugely positive impact on my own health.
Where do you source your food and how often do you change your menus?
Rebecca: We try to source everything as locally as possible. There’s an amazing food wholesalers in Fenham that we use for a lot of our produce and everything we use is freshly prepared. Our menu changes every week and it tends to be that five or six different meals get switched out and new ones get added in.
Luke: Our menu also changes seasonally. In the summer, we made a lot of salads and now in winter were doing more stews and curries.
What are your thoughts on Veganuary?
Luke: It’s a great time to encourage people to try out a plant-based diet. We’ve a special promotion ‘Do Veganuary with Nourish Bud’ and that offers discounts throughout the month.
Rebecca: We’d like to think that we can help anyone who starts Vegauary to see it through to the end of the month. We don’t want them to lose momentum or run out of meals to make.
Do you think more people will be involved this year and why?
Rebecca: I think shows on Netflix such as What The Health, and David Attenborough’s series are making serious noise about changing to a plant-based diet and I think that will really spur people on to try it this year.
Luke: Absolutely. I think interest has been growing every year. This Veganuary will definitely reflect that.
How did it feel to win Vegan Meal Delivery Service of the Year 2020?
Rebecca: We hadn’t even realised we’d been nominated!
Luke: We were over the moon. It came out of the blue for us actually. It was a bit of a whirlwind really; it must have been one of our customers who nominated us and it was so good to be recognised for the work we’ve been doing.
Is there any truth in five-a-day improving health?
Luke: Yes. But a lot of the research we’ve done shows that five-a-day was just a number created in the 80s to try and get people to eat more fruit and veg – I think you shouldn’t stop at five and should eat as much fruit and veg as you can. The wealth of vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients you get have the most amazing benefits for your health.
Rebecca: Our research shows that eating a hugely varied diet of fruit and veg is vital so we carry that philosophy in our meals.
What is your favourite meal?
Rebecca: I absolutely love our curry and noodles – anything spicy and fiery.
Luke: Our Buddha Bowl. It features beetroot falafels, which I love.
How do you like to spend your free time?
Luke: We’re avid gym-goers and we enjoy running. Rebecca: We enjoy seeing our friends too. One of the hardest parts of 2020 was not being able to see friends and family as much.
What’s your favourite thing about the North East? Luke: We’re both born and bred in the North East. There’s so much that we love, including how friendly everyone is.
Rebecca: We love the city life but having the countryside so close is the best thing about Newcastle. My parents have two big dogs so the opportunity to go for walks with them is amazing.
