Hull vegan snack brand aiming for international growth

Vegan snack brand Mummy Meagz is planning to grow its export sales to more than 50 per cent of its overall turnover.

The Hull-based company, owned by 70-year-old local baker Meagan Boyle, is aiming to achieve this by the end of 2019, based on growth across Australia, Europe, the USA and South East Asia.

The business, named Mummy Meagz, produces vegan, gluten-free packaged treats that are free from 13 out of 14 major allergens. It offers vegan versions of popular sweets such as Creme Eggs and rocky road.

This year, Mummy Meagz is seeking new export partners at the International Food & Drink Event (IFE) in March, and Natural & Organic Products Europe in April. It is exhibiting with support from International Trade Advisers (ITAs) as part of the ‘Food is GREAT’ campaign.

‘Food is GREAT’ is the cross-departmental initiative between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for International Trade (DIT), which aims to showcase UK food and drink overseas, and to help businesses export.

Dean Adamson, son-in-law of Meagan and joint-owner of Mummy Meagz, said: “Consumers are moving away from seeing veganism as a niche way of life, with it fast becoming a popular lifestyle choice.

“This shift is creating a huge opportunity for us to export, particularly as choice for vegans remains limited in the grab-and-go confectionary market, both in the UK and overseas.

“The support we’ve had from Food is GREAT has been essential in helping us get this far on the road to international expansion. None of us come from a fast-moving-consumer-goods background, so we have no experience of selling overseas.

“But the support given by Defra and DIT - introducing us to buyers and providing funding to visit trade shows - has been invaluable in helping us to understand overseas markets and to target export customers. If we can do it, so can you.”

The business began exporting when it fulfilled its first order of 7,500 vegan treat bars from newly-appointed distributors in Germany and Spain.

It secured these new partners after connecting with buyers at Anuga 2017 in Cologne, an international trade show for the food and drink industry, with support from DIT ITAs.

According to Google Trends data, veganism is becoming ever more popular. Vegan-related searches were at an all-time high in 2018, up 11 per cent from 2017 and 35 per cent from 2016.

The two-year-old company is a spin-off venture from the team behind Blondes, a vegan café in Cottingham, run by Meagan and her family.

Mark Robson, head of region - Yorkshire and the Humber, at DIT, added: “The Mummy Meagz team has taken its core competency of making delicious vegan treats for Cottingham consumers, and given it an entrepreneurial twist to market its vegan treats world-wide.

“The brand demonstrates the excellent potential to up-scale a food and drink business - from café to international FMCG brand - through exporting.

“The Mummy Meagz story should serve as an excellent source of inspiration for other Hull businesses aspiring to sell overseas. We have 29 ITAs dedicated to supporting Yorkshire and the Humber companies on their export journey.”

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