Why I joined the personalised food revolution

I wanted to share a few thoughts on why I decided to join FoodTech start-up Vita Mojo, after having worked at the world’s leading equity crowdfunding, Crowdcube.

People

While working at Crowdcube, I’ve always tried to remind myself how privileged I was. Having the opportunity (and an excuse) to meet and learn from so many of the UK’s most impressive entrepreneurs was a truly humbling experience. I was to use it as a springboard to do my own thing but I was also open to joining a business that truly inspired me. I simply hadn’t found the right venture, until I met Nick.

I remember that first meeting in October 2016 vividly. Nick arrived late and I was stranded in their Spitalfields restaurant wondering what this whole thing was about. It turned out to be the most genuine conversation I had had with a founder to date. I was used to slick pitch decks and fancy buzz words. What I got was very different. It was very simply, Nick’s story. Without being able to put words on it, I was profoundly moved. There was a strong underlying desire driving Nick and what I could only presume, the rest of the team. A desire to impact the world in a remarkable way. A drive that emanated from a very difficult, personal experience. I immediately knew these were my people. This was my crowd.

From that moment onwards, I did everything I could to help them and for me that was fundraising, more specifically crowdfunding. I had seen how powerful building a strong community around a business early on could be. I wanted Nick and his team to have that.

Several months later, once they’d successfully reached their £1.5m target on Crowdcube, I drafted the email that would eventually lead me to join full time.

Food

Food is incredibly personal. It has deep emotional and cultural connotations that we rarely question or think about. Especially when it becomes a commodity, consumed three or more times a day. Earlier this year, I spent some time thinking about what food meant to me.

When I was 11, my parents got divorced. My brother and I ended up moving from London to Brussels to live with my mother. We wouldn’t see my father much, but when we did, it was always in restaurants. We would always be on the hunt for exotic cuisines and trying out new things. These moments were rare and we wanted to have a great time together. On the other hand, the most amazing moments spent with my mother were in the kitchen, cooking penne all arrabbiata. It’s no coincidence that my childhood dream was to become a Chef and study Culinary Arts at École hôtelière of Lausanne.

Food triggers memories and emotions. It also impacts our health in a very real way and it has can truly disastrous effects when things go wrong. It can be a tricky balance to get right.

Just about 3 years ago my younger brother fell ill. We saw all the doctors but no one could really figure out what was wrong. All we understood was that he was in a really bad place and the only way this could be improved was by stripping out many things from his diet. His situation has since improved but he still really struggles to eat out, much like Nick, and this is when I saw how important Vita Mojo could be for many people.

This is not an isolated problem. Gluten intolerance has sky-rocketed in recent years. We all know someone with a severe allergy. The struggle is real.

Has evolution hit a speed bump or has the food industry somehow failed us?

Climate Change

Paul Hawken’s book, Drawdown, is an exceptional work of research and scientific collaboration. Based on peer reviewed research, it ranks all the most substantive solutions to global warming. As you’d expect, you will find many usual suspects (Wind Turbines, Solar Farms, Electric Cars, etc.) but what surprises most is that Food Waste (reduction) and Plant-Rich Diets make third and fourth place respectively.

For the last 6 years, I’ve been convinced that no issue worth solving is more important than Climate Change but I’ve always found it difficult to see how I could have impact. I’m not a scientist and certainly not an engineer. I’m not particularly enamoured by the Third Sector. Policy? I don’t have the patience, at least not right now. This leaves me with Tech and this is where Vita Mojo meets the sweet spot.

A broken industry

Vita Mojo is a revolutionary technology and restaurant chain that tackles very personal nutrition challenges while reducing Food Waste at the same time. It has the potential to disrupt hospitality software, a multi-billion dollar industry stuck in the dark ages. Vita Mojo is an environmentally-conscious eatery and provides great plant-based protein alternatives. It has the power to influence eating habits, not by lecturing people on what they should be eating but by making the low-carbon-footprint-option that much tastier.

Bringing my passion for food, the environment and purpose-driven people together, I personally couldn’t think of a better place to work. I’m also incredibly excited to be working with a team, investors and customers that all identify with Vita Mojo in some way.

For me, Vita Mojo is more than a company name. It’s a movement that says to hell with the mass-produced, the industrialised, the one-size-fits-all. It says NO to inefficient food systems that don’t serve us. It gives back control to the individual. It’s a community of people who deeply believe in making food personal, for a better world. This is why I’m here.