Flybe / November 2018

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72 / Flight Time / NOVEMBER 2018
Me & My Business
perfect addition to my toolkit for getting
athletes into the best shape possible.
One of the biggest challenges I face as a
nutritionist is instilling consistency into
the day-to-day lives of my clients. The
PACK’D kits are a first-class product
for nutrition and flavour, but they also
provide consistency that is otherwise
hard to achieve.”
Each pack contains two Smoothie
Kits combining a mix of freshly-frozen
chopped fruit and vegetables, plus a
targeted blend of organic whey protein
and/or superfoods, perfectly portioned,
so there’s no guesswork, and no artificial
ingredients. All that’s left to do is add
your choice of liquid and blend. You can
choose from Energy, Defence or Detox
kits, designed to give you a targeted
health hit. There’s also a Protein Range,
a natural take on the classic shake, in
Cherry Choc Protein+, Apple Crumble
Protein Refuel and Strawberry Shake
Protein Perform containing a rainbow
of ingredients from earthy beetroot and
sweet potato to fig, cherry and pineapple.
Since launch, PACK’D has
produced over two million smoothie
kits for customers. The company now
has over 1,500 product listings, it has
seen 2,000 per cent sales growth since
2016 and an average of 20,000 PACK’D
Smoothie Kits are purchased every week.
Luke acknowledges that it hasn’t
been an easy ride. “Surviving without
a financial safety net has been one of
the biggest challenges and strongest
motivators.” Lack of industry
connections was also a struggle.
“The new crowdfunding capital will
enable us to roll out our new product
plans and secure new stockists,” he
says. “It’s been a real slog building the
business while working other jobs as
we didn’t have money from family or
friends to speed it all up – but now the
business is finally taking off.”
positive future for himself.
He was so determined, in
fact, that he lived in his
parents’ garden shed for
two years to raise funds to
start PACK’D. He would
drive across London at 6am
with a car full of fruit and
vegetables, and work 12-hour days selling
healthy smoothies at Broadway Market
with his childhood friend Alex Stewart.
“Then I’d get home late, prepare the
next day’s produce, go to bed and start
all over again.”
The pair had no business experience,
so turned to The Prince’s Trust, an
organisation that had inspired Luke
in his youth. Having secured vital
mentorship from the Trust, Luke
continues to work to promote their
work, speaking at The Houses of
Parliament and in schools, inspiring
young people to broaden their horizons
and follow in his entrepreneurial
footsteps. The mentorship led Luke to
seek funding from Virgin Startups, who
have been a great supporter of PACK’D
from its early days trading at London
market stalls.
Co-founder and lifelong friend Alex
spent two years at Deloitte and Capita,
before teaming up with
Luke to launch PACK’D.
Frustrated by an unhealthy
city lifestyle, he jumped at
the chance to make nutrition
more accessible and has led
the rapid growth ever since.
The pair’s hard work
paid off and they finally had enough
cash to source a supplier and secure shelf
space in health-food shops.
“From there, demand snowballed,”
Alex adds. Stockists multiplied and
PACK’D attracted £150,000 in angel
investment – backers include David
Krantz, founder of clothing brand
Racing Green, and Robert Porter-Smith,
founder of the company that makes
Nak’d and TREK nutrition bars. The
company has now also raised £540,000
in crowdfunding on Crowdcube.
The smoothies were designed with
the input of elite sports nutritionist
Matt Lovell who helped the England
Rugby team to achieve World Cup
glory in 2003 and has continued to
fuel professional athletes ever since,
including the England women’s football
team and Manchester City FC.
Matt says, “I wanted to get involved
with PACK’D because I saw it as the
“I wanted natural, targeted
nutrition to fuel my
performance – but pre-
bottled smoothies marketed
as ‘healthy’ contained high
amounts of sugar”