After winning Gordon Ramsay’s “Future Food Stars,” the last thing Victoria Omobuwajo cares about is the prize money.
In what can be described as The Food Apprentice, the screen gave twelve food and beverage marketers the opportunity to compete for a £150,000 investment [$185,000] from Ramsay himself. And Omobuwajo’s banana-based snack brand, Sunmo, emerged victorious.
“When I walked into the program, I didn’t know what to expect,” he says. “I felt well prepared because I already had a lot of experience in the food industry and knew my strengths and weaknesses, but the Sunmo was a curling iron. cup holder. “
At just 14 years old, the currency crisis had made the Londoner feel that job security was not guaranteed and that the most productive way to make a living, and create a disgustingly rich legacy, would be to start her own business.
“Sunmo was also born out of my preference at a young age to make a difference, not only for my future, but also for those around me with a similar past,” he says. good luck like any other. “
Although he didn’t know exactly where he was looking to focus his attention, his prolonged struggles with severe eczema and various food intolerances had a silver lining: a hobby of finding nutritious food. The banana, in particular.
With the concept of creating a logo based on naturally baked banana chips, Omobuwajo raised an investment of £100,000 [$123,700] through investors he met in an internship at a personal bank in 2019.
“With this investment, Sunmo moved to Selfridges, Whole Foods Market and Sainsbury’s, all in two years,” he says, “but I learned temporarily that, to enter mass retail, Sunmo would want a seven-figure investment. The MOQ and the workers’ body the prices to enter the retail outlets are high. »
To get as involved as you can imagine in the company, he didn’t pay a salary, but hired staff and worked at night to pay the rent.
“Six months after the launch of sunmo, I was reading full-time, working as a medical assistant at night, and working full-time at Sunmo. This led to exhaustion. “
At her lowest point, she was so tired of returning home after a night shift that she crashed her car on the road.
“I left with some bruises and a cancelled car. I’m grateful to be here because it may have been much worse and fortunately no one was hurt. “
That’s why, in many ways, the opportunity to hire the world’s most outstanding chef as an investor is much more than a matter of money.
“I reached out via email to request Future Food Stars from Gordon Ramsay and contacted through an executive manufacturer the day after submitting my application,” he says. “But the procedure for participating in the exhibition lasted two years, starting in 2020. “
However, after countless Zoom interviews and postponed filming schedules (due to the pandemic), their Whirlpool adventure Future Food Stars has begun.
“I felt confident from the first day of shooting and I knew I just had to show my skills to Gordon [Ramsay].
“He’s an incredibly concerned person. Behind the scenes, he gave us encouragement and recommendations on how to grow our businesses and non-public brands. I wish more people would see that aspect of him. You need the most productive for other friends.
The celebrated chef subjected conants to a series of demanding situations to his personality and business acumen for 8 weeks, adding demanding situations with the logo, demanding situations in the kitchen and more.
“One of the most important classes I learned was the desire to accept your concepts as true,” says Omobuwajo. with concepts with boldness and conviction. “
With marketers and their respective businesses putting themselves to the test (including small-batch Indian sauces, apple cider vinegar, brownies, bottled cocktails, artisanal smoked salmon, and more), many have struggled to keep up. Including Omobuwajo.
“We had very tight deadlines for creating new products, logo concepts and designs that a team would take weeks to create,” he admits. “That said, the speed allowed us to check concepts temporarily and adapt, which was excellent. “
The same applies to the influence of the message on the company. Since the long-term food stars were issued, Sunmo’s online orders have increased by 300% month over month.
“Our biggest sales buildup with episode 8 of the show, where the Sunmo logo appeared. When I won, we had a sales increase of 1543%!
In this episode, Ramsay challenged his 3 finalists to “fix” his company’s pain points. For Sunmo, Omobuwajo invited to expand into a new product category. The result, a diversity of protein-rich, low-calorie shakes, has been all the rage among consumers and industry professionals alike.
“In fact, I had no idea about expanding into beverages until the last challenge. The fact that Gordon Ramsay can see the expansion and perspective of the Sunmo logo makes me appreciate working with him even more.
And, true to his beliefs, he still believes that running with Ramsay outweighs monetary “victory. “
“Gordon Ramsay has established a globally successful logo and having that delight and wisdom is invaluable. Having Gordon Ramsay as a business partner has opened many more doors for the company and strengthened Sunmo’s success and credibility beyond anything it may have. with the hope of.
In the short time since the exhibit was issued, Sunmo has already begun exporting to the U. S. The U. S. and Kuwait offices, as a partnership with the offices of Picture House Cinemas and Bloomberg.
With his ‘catapult’ investment received from Ramsay, he is also looking for safe venture capital investments to turn Sunmo into a billion-pound brand.
“I like to think that Gordon is proud to be a component of the company, which further motivates me to make Sunmo a global logo and generate a great return on investment.
“I see Sunmo as a Unicorn company and my plans are to make it happen. “