Aussie mum’s million dollar breakfast idea

FROM mixing up ingredients in her Sydney kitchen, to supplying Woolworths stores nationally, Natasha turned her healthy breakfast idea into a big business.

Natasha Cromer with her three kids, the inspiration for her breakfast smoothies.

NATASHA Cromer didn’t give much thought to diet or nutrition before she had kids.

That changed eight years ago with the arrival of her first child Ben, who became the inspiration for Wholey Foods Breakfast Smoothies, which looks set to turnover more than $1 million sales in its first year.

“When Ben was born I started thinking about what’s best for my family, about what we were eating, and how we were living, which was ironic given I’d spent my 20s perhaps not doing what was best for me. But everything changes when there’s a child in the mix,” says the 41-year-old Sydney mum who invested $300,000 of her own funds in her start-up.

Intent on making healthier food choices, Natasha recalls however how difficult it was to navigate supermarkets’ breakfast aisles with a toddler in tow.

“Apart from the arms constantly reaching out for the Cocoa Pops, it was the additives and the added sugar in cereals that was frightening. For instance, a standard sized Up & Go has about 20 grams, or five teaspoons of sugar, when the World Health Organisation recommends we have six a day,” she said.

“Like me I could see other people trying to reduce their consumption of sugar, and processed foods like traditional cereals so I guess that’s where the light bulb moment came from although in my case it was more of a seven-year slow-burn.”

With a career in consumer goods marketing (she previously worked for Coke and Kellogg’s) Natasha knew her stuff. So, with the arrival of Finlay, and Matilda, now 6 and 4, she started experimenting with the idea of creating a high protein breakfast smoothie, trying out recipes in her Maroubra kitchen.

Wholey Foods Breakfast Smoothies started in Natasha’s Maroubra kitchen.

Later, as she needed to upscale to make enough product to go into Woolworths nationally, she employed the services of a food technician.

“My kids have always loved smoothies but a fruit smoothie isn’t substantial enough to replace a whole meal so I thought why don’t we grind up all the really best ingredients from a bowl of muesli — things like oats, almonds, coconut, chia and pepita seeds and turn all that into a breakfast smoothie blend.”

Natasha equates her idea to “a bit like chopping up the vegetables and hiding them in the spaghetti Bolognese”.

“Because let’s be honest, even though my kids do enjoy a healthy breakfast, they probably wouldn’t say they enjoy eating things like chia and pepita. But if these proteins are already ground up along with other natural ingredients, including whey protein isolate from NZ grass-fed cows, and you add milk and whatever fruit is to hand, then what you have is delicious and nutritious.”

In 2015, with the financial backing of a private group of investors (not a large cereal multinational in sight) Natasha took her idea to Woolworths. It went on the shelves in March, and although she still hasn’t been able to pay herself a salary, putting any profit straight back into her business, she hopes to in 2018.

Certainly, Woolies’ forecasts look promising, predicting Natasha’s brekkie brand will turnover more than $1 million retail sales in its first year.

“There are lots of interesting healthy brekkie products you can buy at health food stores or online, but the fact is most people shop at Coles or Woolworths,” says Natasha.

“It was always my intention to create a new way of eating breakfast for people like busy mums with fussy eaters, that was accessible, and offered in the place most people shop. I’m thrilled it seems to be doing just that.”

Wholey Foods founder Natasha Cromer. Test Your Genes to Find Your Best Diet