Lingling Yu, the co-founder of instantaneous smoothie model Berry Flirt, has discovered that her youngsters are typically her harshest judges. Each smoothie created goes by their style check first. To Yu, it’s probably the greatest methods to make a tasty smoothie prepared for the general public.
Being of Chinese language and French nationality, Yu has spent most of her life shifting round and residing in several nations, studying completely different languages and absorbing completely different cultures. However she’d at all times needed to arrange her personal enterprise.
“I’ve made quite a lot of errors…” she says. “Trying again, I believe these experiences made me the individual I’m in the present day.”
The individual she is in the present day is making and promoting scrumptious, simple to hold and easy to arrange smoothies – a enterprise which, she says, looks like her future.
We sat down to talk about launching a enterprise in lockdown, developing with smoothie concepts, and what cookbook she’d take to a desert island.
How did you get began on this journey?
I’ve at all times needed to create my very own enterprise even once I was 20 years previous, however I didn’t know begin. I attempted in my 30s, however I used to be not prepared in my mindset. Then, being a mum or dad to 2 young children, it was not simple concentrating on different issues once they have been nonetheless very younger. I learn start-up books as a lot as attainable and took on-line programs on start-up creation, administration and so forth. I additionally tried a few different tasks which in the end didn’t work out, however the concept of freeze-dried smoothies was at all times behind my thoughts. Lastly, my husband and I joined forces and determined it was time to make it occur.
Berry Flirt may help you get your five-a-day with out the issues
(Berry Flirt)
How was launching a brand new enterprise throughout lockdown?
I see it as a time of my progress. It allowed me to crystallise my concepts after which think about a very powerful issues. It was a time after we may take into consideration the venture, strive the recipes, and choose the uncooked materials producers. Lockdown was the interval after we took time to construct our venture with out an excessive amount of stress.
What was a very powerful aim(s) when developing with the smoothies?
The primary precedence of the Berry Flirt smoothie is to help girls’s well being. I understand how a lot sacrifice girls make for his or her household and youngsters; I do know there are such a lot of girls struggling between their youngsters, household and jobs and so they put their very own well being final due to lack of time. I believe that our smoothies can help them to have their every day 5 simply and eat extra nutrient-dense meals with out issues.
Might the smoothies be integrated into different recipes, akin to in a single day oats, drinks or wholesome desserts?
Sure, you’ll be able to add our smoothies to oats and soak them in a single day, or add to pure yoghurt for breakfast, or you’ll be able to freeze the smoothies and add some honey to make sorbets for summer time. There are quite a lot of imaginative methods to discover them!
Every flavour has completely different advantages (ie intestine well being, pores and skin radiance, temper increase, and so on). How did you resolve on these?
All our present 5 flavours – Concord, Pleasure, Knowledge, Radiance and Ardour – have these advantages, like detoxing, however not precisely the identical. As our smoothies are excessive fibre, all of them help intestine well being and still have particular person advantages. I As our smoothies are excessive in fibre, all of them help intestine well being and still have particular person advantages. In Concord, there’s high-fibre beetroot; in Radiance, the goji berry could be very wealthy in anti-oxidants and well-known for pores and skin radiance in Asia; in Knowledge, blueberry is taken into account mind meals, good for focus, and in Concord, ginger is a natural treatment for movement illness, digestive misery and nausea, and in addition discovered to enhance blood circulation and vitality ranges . Curcumin, the celebrity anti-inflammatory in turmeric has pain-relieving properties, and may also improve athletic efficiency and muscle restore. Turmeric additionally has a robust anti-oxidant impact. Since we put turmeric in Pleasure, I might suggest Pleasure for a post-workout smoothie to restore the muscle groups.
I seen that kids love smoothies typically, and it’s essential to show our kids wholesome consuming habits
(Berry Flirt)
What are the advantages of freezedrying?
Freeze drying is one of the best methodology to maintain the important pure components of the meals (higher than air drying), because the fruits are picked at their peak ripeness, flash-frozen to lock within the vitamins, then gently dried below low stress to evaporate the ice and protect diet. Area meals for astronauts is freeze dried, and freeze drying is extensively used within the pharmaceutical business to preserve delicate antibiotics and different fragile substances.
Do your youngsters benefit from the smoothies? Was there a lot of taste-testing in your home earlier than launch?
Sure we now have examined lots at residence with our kids and so they love them – they’ve been harsh judges of our work! We now have additionally concerned mates and mates of mates and we now have tailored our formulation accordingly. I seen that kids love smoothies typically, and it’s essential to show our kids healthy eating habits which is able to stick with all of them their life, (our smoothies are low in sugar). As a substitute of sweets or biscuits for a snack, dad and mom may give them some fruit or a wholesome smoothie.
Onto stable meals… what’s your favorite factor to eat with your loved ones?
I’m very veggie oriented, I’ve to have a minimum of one or two veggies on my desk, I do wok delicacies. As a household, we get pleasure from French delicacies, however I depart that to my French husband!
A enjoyable one: you’re stranded on a desert island (which, for the sake of the query, has a totally stocked kitchen), what cookbook are you taking with you?
La delicacies facile by Anne Sophie Pic – I’m certain I can get quite a lot of inspiration from her.
