Barenaked Foods Noodles, 6 x 380g

Product Information

Bare Naked noodles are available to buy in Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, Sainsburys and many independent outlets www.barenakedfoods.co.uk. How hard and competitive the food industry is and how difficult it is to create a recognised food brand. I still would have done it though! The tougher something is, the more I want it! Business book: Breaking into the multiple grocery market. Our first listing in the UK was in Morrisons. What numbers do you look at every day in your business? It's one of the hardest roads you can ever go down but the rewards are amazing and I’m not talking just financially – one year after I appeared on Dragons' Den, my son Oliver-Jude was born. Personal growth Biggest luxury: I needed investment and exposure to help my business grow. Dragons’ Den is an amazing platform to help people with great ideas turn them into reality. All of the Dragons areextremely clever people with a wealth of experience. The hard work really starts when you get the investment. The biggest tip I have for people is to learn.

Konjac (‘Shirataki’) noodles can be created by harvesting fibre from the konjac root by mashing it down into a flour, before mixing it with water and calcium hydroxide to create a gel which can be cut into strips. We have a turnover of 600, 000 as of June 2015, a 110 per cent increase on the previous year. With our extended distribution, turnover for the next year will hit 1m. I started off by importing 3, 000 units of product, and now we import 80, 000 units every six weeks.

“…the company has gone from strength to strength…”

I was extremely nervous standing in front of the Dragons' Den panel, presenting Bare Naked Noodles after working so hard to build the business that we started in 2011. It was great to get the expert business insight of the panel and now I'm looking forward to helping more health conscious people discover our fantastic range of noodles", Ross Mendham said. Since I first featured on Dragons’ Den it’s been an emotional roller-coaster and as with any business, it’s been challenging to get to the top. Even when you get investment, success is not guaranteed. But with hard work, we have managed to take Barenaked Foods to where it is today.

I don’t have ANY regrets. Any decision I make I stand by. Even if I was wrong, I learn by it and it makes me a better businessman. What is the most common serious mistake you see entrepreneurs make? To find out more, Business Advice caught up with Mendham and asked him how Jones has contributed and what his tips for dealing with supermarkets are. We currently sell in Dubai. We are looking for distributors in the USA, Canada, and Europe. The world is our oyster. I always said after Dragons' Den that I wanted to take on the world! Describe your growth funding path:

Konyaku noodels are essential to my dietary plans, and the Barenaked brand is a significant technological advance; the noodles are white rather than clear, and in strands rather than bunches - so are superior to other brands. Bare Naked Foods is a brand of plant-based noodles, protein noodles, and rice that are low-carb, low-calorie, and have zero fat in them. They are also 100% vegan friendly. Description in one line: Innovative manufacturer of healthy, gluten-free, pasta, rice and ready meals Although he admits to constantly working towards “world domination” with his business, the one thing Ross is most proud of is the birth of his son, Oliver-Jude. Barenaked Foods was founded in 2011 by Ross Mendham, who after years of dieting and worrying about the food he was eating, decided that ‘enough was enough.’ It was time to do something about it…

We have distribution in Dubai, Malta and recently South Africa. I would like to not only become an established healthy, gluten-free food brand in the UK but also internationally. The sky is the limit. The only downside is the chicanery around declared weights (common to all konyaku noodle suppliers), which makes price comparison treacherous; as the noodles must be delivered in liquid, the drained weight vs full weight is rather important. Barenaked seems to be delivered in a minimum amount of liquid (good) but the drained weight is 350g, not the 380g claimed. Ross admits that he has always found weight loss ‘especially difficult’ due to his love of pasta and rice. He thought ‘there must be a low fat, low carbohydrate version of the foods that he craves and loves – especially pasta!’ It's expanding year on year. Consumers are always looking at healthy alternatives. In the future, there will be a healthy gluten-free alternative for every product. What is the single most important piece of advice you would offer to a less experienced entrepreneur? Ross Mendham is the Managing Director and brain behind Bare Naked Foods. He took his idea of low-carb, low-calorie, and zero fat noodles and protein noodles to the Dragons in season 11.Entrepreneurs are so eager to succeed that they sometimes have unrealistic expectations. I ALWAYS see entrepreneurs overvalue their business. It happens in the Den all the time! You must also be willing to listen to advice. How will your market look in three years? Sadly, after hours upon hours of trawling through the internet, searching supermarkets and health food shops, he had no success. However, after further research, he discovered konjac, a food crop grown across south-east Asia. The language barrier was difficult but he knew that he had to find a factory which met UK food production standards. His patience paid off when he found the ideal place to produce his own style of konjac (or shirataki) noodles. He had a difficult pitch with Deborah Meaden and Kelly Hoppen opting out very early. After an emotional explanation of funding, Mendham received interesting offers from Duncan Bannatyne, Piers Linney, and Peter Jones.

I had the idea for a low-carbohydrate pasta and rice in 2010. I didn’t have the guts to start the business because I was scared of failing. He included a cooking demonstration of his noodles with the help of Dragon Kelly Hoppen which did not go as smoothly as he hoped. I had no experience in the food sector, apart from being a foodie at home. Since my company’s incorporation, and with the help of thepeter Jones? team, I have learnt so much about this industry. The entrepreneur decided that he would make this food available in the UK, so he created his own recipe with a blend of konjac, soybean and oatmeal flour to give his noodles a texture similar to traditional rice noodles. His recipe had no fat, sugar, dairy or gluten and was low in carbohydrate — and so… Barenaked Noodles were born! I learnt everything as I went. I was willing to learn off veterans in the industry and of course, Peter Jones. What would make you a better leader?Having more confidence in my abilities. Sometimes even managing directors have bad days! What one thing do you wish you’d known when you started? Barenaked noodles and rice have also caught the attention of celebrities and influencers, who now enjoy them as part of a balanced/restricted diet or to aid their weight management plans. Set realistic goals and work hard to achieve each one. You are not a success because you have a great idea; even the best ideas fail because a founder has made a wrong decision. Be willing to learn, work hard and never give up.