Vital Ingredient

 I am reblogging a recent interview with our founder, hope you enjoy it!
Vital Ingredient is a brand that everyone in London knows of but few know much about who is behind it. However the brand – established – in 2001 has grown consistently and today can boast 18 stores and serves over 8500 customers a day. It pioneered the healthy eating revolution and today is well positioned for real growth and expansion.

EP met with the founder Alex Heynes to discuss his story – what was the inspiration for the business, how has his journey been and what is the vision for the future?
It is a slight paradox that many in London know the Vital Ingredient brand and yet so few know much about the business. However, it has a loyal customer base and one which is clearly growing and expanding with the business.
As one scratches beneath the surface, one soon finds that the business has focused on the produce and the customer and less on telling its story and to a level, this is reflective of its founder Alex Heynes.
Alex is naturally self effacing. He is modest and would prefer to let the product do the talking for him. He would prefer to operate rather than talk about himself.

To his credit he has built a business that may possess this paradox but it is an issue that is relatively easy to solve. It is more important that he has built a business that, 14 years after being founded, has a track record and steady performance plus is now well positioned for growth. More and more customers are interested in healthy eating and are seeking alternatives to sandwiches or heavy lunch options. It is easy to see that Vital Ingredient is in the process of building a strong brand that really engages with the modern consumer.
Alex is open and candidly honest about his journey which has been one of learning on the job as he has built the business. It has not been an easy road at times but to his credit, he clearly has a firm vision and a belief in what the business does deliver to the consumer. However, this only tells part of the story as few entrepreneurs are able to build a chain of 18 stores without steely determination, courage and skill.
The journey that most entrepreneurs take is one that is rarely ordinary and Alex’s story is one that is reflective of many that have found their place in life after feeling out of place.
At school, I was hardly an academic success. I left school with not too much confidence in myself as someone who was going to be a corporate highflyer. I am not sure they thought I was going to be a great success and to be fair they may have had a point.
I pretty much knew after leaving university that the only way I was going to make a mark for myself was by going it alone and starting my own business. I don’t think it was necessarily a basic lack of brain cells, but more the fact that I simply couldn’t hear it from someone else, I’ll admit I’m not the best of listeners. I had to find things out first hand.
However, I was not sure what type of business or in which discipline I would find my place. Numbers and paper/electronic based business never inspired me, so it had to be something you could see, touch or even taste.
I moved to London from the rural west country in the mid ‘90’s in search of ‘success and fortune’ working in various unrewarding office based jobs around the city, I was always distracted by the apparent success of Prêt a Manger, which at the time was London’s only real booming high end, branded multisite QSR business. I remember being almost surprised and disappointed that my friends and colleagues didn’t share this fascination, I wanted to know everything about the company – their operational infrastructure, their financial metrics, what they were like to work for, where they sourced their ingredients and who built their shops. I became a bit obsessed. It was a fascination on how from nothing, a single person can create handfuls of shiny sexy looking stores within minutes walk from each other, fill them with great people offering great food and make money.
I had to find out how, by having a go myself – I knew that much, no more. I wanted to start something that made people happy, both its employees as a place to work and its customers with the experience and product.
Whilst visiting NYC with a girlfriend in the late 90’s , I spotted a restaurant with a display of hundreds of shiny lettuce filled plastic bowls, long glass screened counters with an array of ingredients, lines of dressing bottles and hundreds of big metal mixing bowls and tongs hung on the back wall. When lunchtime came, they sold 800 in two hours. Each one made to order to the customer’s exact specification. There it was. The business plan was written on the flight home. Despite this place being the single only place in NY at the time to get a tossed to order salad and the concept was by no means a proven model, it was probably the first time that I knew the true direction that I wanted to head down.”
One of Alex’s attributes is that there is no apparent side to him. He is very genuine and what you see is Alex, the man.
“I come from a farming family and have always been into good, honest, healthy food. I found it so difficult in the 90’s to be able to eat what I actually wanted on lunch breaks while working in the City. It was frustrating that the options were limited to pre-made sandwiches.
In 2001, I started the first Vital Ingredient as a new food concept to provide others with what I was looking for, hoping they wanted it too. I was not overly optimistic about the chances of the company’s success as I knew I had real gaps in my experience and knowledge but I was obsessed with ingredient provenance and freshness, friendly service and giving my customers control on being able to eat how and what they wish.
Today, my desire to provide such as a service is stronger than ever. I have always believed in what we have been striving to achieve but now the consumer too believes and wants what we are offering. We will, therefore, push our boundaries to make Vital Ingredient the place to eat proper fresh ingredients and to eat just the way you want to at any time of the day.”
The first store was opened in 2001, the second in 2003 and the third in 2004. “It was gradual growth to start with but the stores never had a quiet day’s business, just as I did, so other consumers wanted greater choice and real options.
If I am honest, I probably “winged” it for the first few years and what I am delighted and proud about now is that we have the credibility and substance to be able to bring in real expertise into the business that can take us forward in the right way.
Vital Ingredient has had its great highs and lows over the last fourteen years but we have believed in the core philosophy that sits at our heart. I think that is the real secret of the success we have had. Yes, one can say that our timing was right for the consumer but many others have tried and failed. Our difference is that that our customers have almost been on the journey with us and shared our belief. They know we have been genuine and striving to develop a business that believes in offering great products with excellent ingredients which are fresh and with real taste.
London is a brutal market. If you are not good enough, the customer has many options so we have had to work very hard to make sure we are and that we keep and grow our customer base. I am always striving for better and I suspect I always will, but I believe that search for better engages and keeps our customers with us.”

So what does the future hold for the business?

“In truth, I would like to see the business double in size and expand into new markets. I believe there is still much more that can be achieved with the growth of the consumer’s understanding of eating well and healthily and we want to travel on that journey with them. We have brought in greater, proven expertise to enable us to improve and grow. I can not tell you where the end lies for I believe we are not far from the start. We still have much to do and I am looking forward to the next few years. I guess the big difference between now and 2001 is that I now know that we can achieve our goals. When I first started, I probably did lack belief and confidence but I just worked as hard as I could to cover my weaknesses and gradually it worked. We now have a great group of people in the company and all 250 plus of us share a passion. We are working towards a common goal so maybe the question can be turned around to be asked – what can’t be achieved?”