Lovely profile that Foodserviceselect.com wrote about the Funch team
It was their children's kindergarten that brought Lisa Bourne and Tanya Duncan, Co-Founders of Funch, together. A mutual interest in health and fitness not only built the foundations of a friendship but lead to the creation of their business. We asked Lisa and Tanya a few questions about business and working in the food industry.
Tell us about Funch
Funch is an Australian owned business which creates and distributes ‘easy to make’ healthy snack pre-mixes (mixes). These include protein balls, cookies, slices, luxe balls and bliss balls, and are made from wholesome natural ingredients that do not contain any added sugar, preservatives, additives or colouring.
How did you both meet and come up with the Funch concept?
We met when our children were at kindergarten together. We were both interested in health and fitness, and agreed that there was a genuine lack of choice at the supermarket for healthy snacks to put into our kids’ lunchboxes. We were seeking snacks without preservatives, additives or colouring and with limited sugar.
Identifying a gap in the market for affordable, easy and convenient healthy snacks for the whole family, we established Funch. Originally we made all the healthy snacks and delivered them to families each week, but we quickly realised that if we were going to reach far and wide with healthy snacks we would need to change our business model. That was when the concept of a Premix for healthy snacks came about.
Since introducing our first two Premixes, our product range has grown and evolved and now includes 12 different products.
How do you make your business stand out to the likes of restauranters, café owners and chefs?
Many Funch snacks require NO BAKING, and NO BLENDER. Because they are a Premix, they only require the addition of 2 ingredients to make up the finished product. This offers busy kitchens a really simple to make, cost effective, high-quality and reliable product.
Funch also caters to a range of dietary requirements with products that are gluten free, dairy free, nut free and lunchbox friendly. There is something for everyone.
What’s the biggest learning curve you’ve had in 2016/2017 that’s helped your business?
2016/17 has seen Funch move from purely the retail space into more of the bulk supply to cafes and caters. Developing our brand in this new channel has meant that we have had to quickly learn more about the supply and distribution to this market.
What do you find the biggest challenge in managing Funch?
Time-management is a great challenge for a relatively small business like Funch. Whilst we are a small, nimble team, our responses to the market place need to be equivalent to some of our larger competitors.
What are your plans/goals for 2017/2018? How will you make it your best year yet?
Here at Funch we are working on expanding both our retail and food services businesses. We see both of these avenues as exceptional opportunities to expand our reach of supplying healthy snacks throughout Australia. The Funch range, made from wholesome natural ingredients, with no preservatives, no added sugar and no additives offers an exceptional snacking option for busy people, families, schools, cafes, health centres, corporates and aged care.
Read the full article from Food Service Select here
