Creating Pollen + Grace: A Journey in Food Innovation, Health, and Accessibility with Stephanie Kingston

On this week’s episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, we talk to former professional chef Stephanie Kingston who traded her chef whites in for a factory uniform when she set up her nutrition-based to-go food business, Pollen + Grace. Steph lifts the lid on the Pollen + Grace story and tells us about future developments coming up for her business baby. Steph charts her journey into the food industry and tells us how her food intolerances made her pivot into the health food space. We discuss how she built Pollen + Grace from the ground up and transitioned it into making ever higher volumes of food to meet their growing list of distributors. You’ll hear how Steph balances out the competing needs of innovation and sustainable growth and the advice she’d give to her younger self on the cusp of starting a food business. There’s also some exciting news about what’s next for Pollen + Grace and for Steph! If you have any thoughts about this episode or about the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, then we’d love to hear them! We’re asking our listeners to fill out this short survey so we can carry on making podcast content that you love to hear. Thanks for helping us out! Timestamps[1:34] Welcome to the podcast, Steph![4:24] “Food has always been my world”: Steph’s journey into the food industry[9:32] How Pollen + Grace got stocked in major supermarkets[13:26] Natural products, functional food: The Pollen + Grace philosophy[17:36] Why a co pack manufacturing model made sense for the business[21:06] Steph’s insight on the real value behind the Pollen + Grace brand [22:00] More distributors, more categories: What’s on the horizon for the business?[24:08] “We needed to rethink how we looked at product development”: The challenges of innovating [28:37] Juggling motherhood and a food business (AKA two babies at once)[31:35] Steph’s advice to her younger self [35:13] Where to get in touch with Steph and Pollen + GraceLinks and ResourcesSign up for the Invisible to Influential course  We would LOVE your thoughts on how we can make the podcast even greater! Please take a few minutes to fill in this podcast surveyStephanie Kingston on LinkedInPollen + GracePollen + Grace on LinkedInIf you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: DaymerDaymer on LinkedInDaymer on TwitterEmail: web@daymer.comYou can follow us here on instagramIf you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedInFor food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedInSee you next time!