My Food Bag’s million- dollar recipe
In just four years, My Food Bag has become a household name. Co- founders Cecilia Robinson and Nadia Lim tell why working at speed is the key to
is especially satisfying. Her goal has always been to encourage more people to prepare their own healthy meals, without the stress that can come from information overload. There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing the bulk of your grocery shopping and decision- making on meals, she argues, if it means eating well.
“People want to go back to basics a lot more and lead a simpler life rather than wondering, ‘ Is this actually a healthy meal that I’m feeding my family? I’m not sure because this diet expert is saying I should be eating this way, and this diet expert says I should be eating this way.’”
These days she oversees rather than writes the recipes, while remaining the brand ambassador and food expert. ( There are now 19 chefs and testers in the development team, plus the photography kitchen, who capture the step- by- step images.) It’s a multi- faceted role that means Lim is involved in everything from promotions to running the website.
The latest addition to “brand Nadia” i s the bimonthly lifestyle magazine Nadia, a glossy compilation of recipe ideas, wellbeing features and insights into Lim’s life with husband Carlos and 8- month- old son Bodhi ( who even gets his own column). Similar in concept to magazines put out by food writers such as Annabel Langbein and Australian Donna Hay, Nadia was the brainchild of publishers Bauer, whose market research revealed that Kiwi women ranked Lim, with her wholesome, accessible appeal and 244,000 Facebook followers, as one of the most influential New Zealanders.
Running the business hasn’t been all plain sailing, of course. Cecilia recalls the fraught night when the two couples stayed up until 3am trying to get the website live. And launching My Gluten- Free Food Bag last year was an operational nightmare – not only getting the tick from Coeliac New Zealand, but making sure all the ingredi- ents are kept completely separate from the other products.
It helps that when the going gets tough, they can call on some of the sharpest business minds on their board. Alongside chief executive Gattung i s ex- Saatchi head Kevin Roberts, who joined the board two years ago as chair. He brings an “unbiased view” of international trends, says Robinson; it was Roberts who alerted them to the increasing number of single- person households overseas, leading to the development of a food bag for one. They are joined on the board by Waterman Capital’s Chris Marshall, Lance Jenkins and Phil Maud. With their sights now on listing, the team made the decision to pull out of Australia in order to focus solely on New Zealand.
While that may sound like a step back, it fits with their ambitions as well as their lifestyle, says Robinson, in that both couples have young children, making travel difficult. Not that they see it as having to make sacrifices – family life is a big part of their success. Despite not knowing one another when they first started, both couples – and their kids – have become close, cementing their loyalty both in and out of the boardroom. As for working with their spouses, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It probably does take a certain type of couple,” says Robinson. “A lot of people would say we’re crazy, right? But it is really awesome.”
Cecilia and James had already worked together for several years running the early childhood education provider Au Pair Link when they launched My Food Bag. These days they divide the roles, James managing marketing, IT and finance while Cecilia manages the development team and operations and purchasing, ( although their responsibilities frequently cross over).
Likewise, Lim says she couldn’t imagine not working with Bagrie, My Food Bag’s “brand guardian and creative go- to guy”.