Organic September Panel : Building Successful Healthy Food Brands – Recap

Discover what happened at an event focused on building a successful food brand in today’s rapidly evolving healthy food market.

To celebrate Organic September, on 14 September 2026 Women in the Food Industry brought together an inspiring panel of founders and food industry leaders to explore the opportunities, challenges and commercial realities of building brands around organic, healthy, free-from and purpose-led food.

The evening provided practical insights, honest experiences and valuable connections to help you move your business forward, whether you were already running an organic or healthy food business, developing your next product, considering certification or looking to break into retail.

Photography by Liesel Bockl

What Was Explored

“an incredibly honest conversation about everything from getting your first product onto a shelf to allergens, packaging, fermentation, organic food accreditations, supermarket buyers, consumer trends and even the potential impact of GLP-1s on the food industry“.

“There are so many different directions a brand could take. Organic, free-from, plant-based, high-protein, high-fibre, fermented, functional, clean label. So how does a founder or manufacturer decide what really matters? Which claims are relevant to their product, what will resonate with consumers, and how do they avoid trying to be everything to everyone?” Louise Monaghan writing on Sort Your Life Out – see full post.

Meet our panellists

Elin Roberts — Co-Founder, Better Nature

Elin is co-founder of Better Nature, a pioneering brand helping to bring tempeh and fermented foods to a wider audience. She shared insights into innovation, consumer education and building a purpose-driven food brand in a competitive category.

Julianne Ponan MBE — Founder, Creative Nature

Julianne is the founder of Creative Nature, a leading free-from brand, and a passionate advocate for better food choices and allergen awareness. She brought her experience of building a successful free-from business and the changing expectations of today’s consumers.

Tara Taylor — Founder, Good Grain Bakery

Tara has built Good Grain Bakery around the belief that healthier food doesn’t have to compromise on taste or enjoyment. She shared her experience of building a bakery business and navigating the opportunities and challenges of the health-focused food market.

Jade Hoai is the Executive Leader of Purchasing at Whole Foods Market UK. She brings over 17 years of experience in retail and operations to the forefront of grocery innovation. Her passion lies in building thoughtful, strategic supplier relationships and shaping product assortments that reflect the guiding values of customers – quality, sustainability, and transparency.

At Whole Foods Market, she leads the UK Purchasing team in developing compelling private label and promotional strategies, curating seasonal and regional ranges, and championing emerging brands. She is focused on elevating the customer experience through conscious sourcing and operational excellence.

Hosted by Mex Ibrahim – Co-founder of Women in the Food Industry a non-profit advancing equality and inclusion across the sector. With expertise in sustainability, entrepreneurship, and ethical eating, she is a trustee of School Food Matters and advisory board member of New Food Magazine. In 2025 she was winner of the Speciality & Fine Food Fair DEI Champion Award and voted The Staff Canteen’s Hospitality Hero. In 2026 she won Woman of the Year – Sales & Communication – in the inaugural Women In Food & Drink Awards.

Attendees also had the opportunity  to sample the following innovative Healthy Food and Snacks

O’ Seedy – New Seed Seasonings toppers high in fibre & Omega 3

AllThatMatters – baked wild puffs using nutrient dense ancient grains

Pinia – New Ayurveda-Inspired energy balls

Garden of Eva – award winning pantry ingredients inspired by the US South, including New Orleans

Ghemu Farm – Small-batch preserves & ferments

Key Takeaways

Manon Galizzi Food Scientist and Flavour Expert from EPICSI shared her key takeaways and insights from the event: “Tara set the tone early: taste is the most important thing. If someone doesn’t like your product, they won’t buy it again. Branding and packaging can get someone to pick it up. Only taste brings them back. She built Good Grain Bakery around that. She didn’t want it to be labelled “healthy bread.” She wanted it to actually taste good.

Elin’s point on focus was equally sharp: don’t do everything, it confuses your consumer. Find the one problem you’re solving, make it easy to understand, and make sure people care enough to actually pay for it. Not just say they would in a focus group. Real buying behaviour is different.

On certifications, Julianne was direct: you don’t need every accreditation, you need one. The right one, tied to your actual value proposition. Then simplify your packaging around it. More logos doesn’t mean more trust.

One of my favourite insights of the evening came from Elin on positioning. Rather than leading with “it’s fermented” or “it’s a health food,” Better Nature positioned their tempeh as an alternative for people who already eat chicken. Same occasion, familiar context, lower barrier to trial. Understand the shopper journey. Understand the blockers. Go to where the consumer already is.

And from Jade, the buyer’s perspective: the biggest mistake she sees is founders thinking about getting onto a shelf without thinking about how to stay there. Promotions, velocity, repeat purchase, these need to be part of the plan from day one. She also said something worth repeating: don’t be afraid to ask your buyer for help. Most founders don’t, and they should.”

There are also more takeaways and highlights of our event on Speciality Fine Food Fair’s website.

You may be interested in our second event for Organic September – Is Organic a Shortcut for Better? – Panel & Curated Wine Tasting