Ellie Brown talks about her successful plant-based food business.
College alumna Ellie Brown has founded and now runs a successful plant-based food business. Based in East London, Kinda Co makes artisanal dairy-free cheese; it has grown rapidly since its launch in late 2017, and has big plans for the future.
Not long after graduation, Ellie decided to give up dairy – but as a lifelong cheese addict, she was dismayed by the substitutes available. Seeing the need for great vegan cheese that equals its dairy counterparts, Ellie began to make her own. Developing recipes at home, and holding ‘supper clubs’ to test the products, her quest for the perfect plant-based cheese converged with a longstanding aim to run her own business. Within months, Kinda Co was born.
From a one-woman enterprise in Ellie’s flat, Kinda Co has grown into a full commercial kitchen. It employs a team of cheese-makers, making nine varieties of plant-based cheese, and trades at markets across London and the South of England. It has a thriving online shop, and has been featured by the BBC, the New Statesman, and twice by the Independent.
Ellie’s inventive, nut-based cheeses are made of healthy ingredients such as miso, natural cultures and apple cider vinegar; in a bid to cut down on plastic, her products are packaged in glass jars and biodegradable wax. Committed to sustainability as well as making peerless products, Ellie’s approach is both innovative and entrepreneurial. While honouring its artisanal origins, Kinda Co continues to grow.
Ellie told us, “I'm delighted with how the business has grown since I started a year and a half ago. The response to Kinda Co. has been wonderful and I'm so happy that there is now such a demand for plant-based alternatives. Although I had no prior business experience, the discipline I learnt during my time at Lucy put me in good stead for the hard work that's necessary when running your own company.”
College President Professor Dame Madeleine Atkins congratulated Ellie on the success of her company, saying that her creativity, determination and entrepreneurship are very impressive; her environmental consciousness is equally commendable. Some Lucy Cavendish staff recently sampled Kinda Co cheese, and were very impressed.
We look forward to seeing (and tasting) what comes next!
See Ellie’s cheeses on her website: www.thekindaco.com