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Northumbria students turned entrepreneurs launch healthy shake startup

Northumbria University students turned entrepreneurs, Rachel Horton, Alice Webster and Poppy Brookes, have launched their own business, CleanShakes.

Identifying a gap in the market for a nutritious drink aimed at those who want to live a better and healthy lifestyle, the enterprising trio are aiming to produce a shake that will be as ‘clean’ as possible.

Whilst the product is still in development, the business is already attracting interest from high end premium retailers.

The team, who are studying on Newcastle Business School’s Entrepreneurial Business Management (EBM) Programme, have secured funding from two external bodies to progress their business idea and will be launching the product later this year. The £12k worth of funding has come from Innovation Strategy Board and Science City.

Rachel, 29, from Newcastle, said: “The financial support we have received has allowed us to take our idea and make it a reality.

“Our current focus is on utilising innovative microbiological and manufacturing processes to ensure we maintain the nutritional quality of our product, whilst also reducing the need to process the product. We want to make our shakes as clean as we can so we are working with microbiologists and food scientists to make this happen.

“Our message is that CleanShakes is a premium, tasty product, something that is good for you whilst actively tasting good. It’s a simple concept - but it is really difficult to achieve the right balance when creating a new food product, so we have teamed up with experts to do just that.”

There is also an environmental aspect to CleanShakes as all decisions the team make, from the design and supply chain to the ingredients used, are being made with consideration to their carbon footprint.

The young entrepreneurs are now focussed on developing the CleanShakes brand.

Rachel explained: “At the moment we are testing the concept and getting to know our potential customer base, which means spending a lot of time out in the field speaking to a wide variety of people, and feedback has been great with many saying they would like to buy CleanShakes products when they are ready for market.

“We are experimenting and working out how the business is going to profitably function whilst building for growth – this is a huge focus for us and it is all about learning.

“Our mentality is less about in-depth strategic planning and more about thoughtful action in which we learn and test. What we do know is that there is a distinct market need and CleanShakes is our response to that.”

The EBM course at Northumbria is innovative in that it promotes a team-based approach to learning in which participants influence what, how and when they learn. Students set up and manage their own business enterprise which gives them the opportunity to earn while studying.

As well as being attractive to those who have ambitions to be their own boss, there is also the appeal of career development as students learn a variety of skills and competencies which would make them a valuable addition to any organisation.

Rachel added: “The course is very self-directed but we have access to academics and industry professionals to support us and makes us feel empowered. As we have that guidance we are more likely to take risks and grab at opportunities we might not get if we were on our own with a new business.”

Tony Blackwood, EBM Programme Director at Newcastle Business School, at Northumbria University, said: “The programme, which adopts a very innovative approach to learning, is an example of our forward looking thinking at Northumbria and the success we have seen in the first two years is hugely encouraging.

“CleanShakes is an idea with a lot of potential and the students have really excelled under this different educational experience. They are taking responsibility for their own learning and are rising to the challenge of running their own business.”

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