This month's founders: Luke Thorpe and Deby McLennan SAVI Snacks,

Weymouth, Dorset, UK

Our vegan story

We have both been vegetarians for most of our lives (Luke since he was two years old and Deby since she was 24 years old, when she met Luke) and in early 2019 we transitioned to a plant-based diet; for our health, for the animals and not least for the planet. It just felt the natural thing to do. We're only sorry we didn't do it earlier.

Early inspiration

We created SAVI Snacks when we realised there was a gap in the market for a tasty, healthy savoury snack bar. We found sugary cereal bars too sweet for our liking and the alternative of crisps and nuts too high in fat. This inspired us to create a healthy option in the form of a vegan savoury snack bar.

Tips for others

Seek out as much advice and support as you can from other vegan businesses; we can all help each other.

The best thing about being vegan

We both found it makes us feel healthier and gives us more energy; who doesn't want that? It also gives us a feeling of ‘doing the right thing', for so many reasons; the animals, the planet and our health.

You're stranded on an island. What one vegan product/treat would you want with you?

Deby could not live without lip balm, she has them in every pocket. If she sees a vegan lip balm she'll buy it! Luke would take his newly acquired Gozney Roccbox Pizza oven, it really does cook pizzas to perfection.

Fun fact

We founded our first business, a vegetarian café called Walnut Grove 30 years ago. 25 years later we opened another successful vegetarian and vegan café, Café Piccolo, which we have now sold in order to concentrate on SAVI Snacks.

What's next

We've only just launched with our first three flavours and have other exciting variations in the pipe line. We are also working on Mini Crunchy Snack Packs and a SAVI recipe book.

For more from SAVI Snacks, visit savisnacks.com or follow