Inspired by the pain and suffering experienced with watching a loved one deteriorate after a throat illness, Pure Foods founder Sam Bridgewater hit on the idea to supply hospitals and aged care facilities with high-quality fortified foods with clinical benefits that improve health outcomes.
Coming from a financial background, Sam and his business partner Maia Royal had identified a gap in the market, but had no experience in food production. So, the pair engaged with The FoodBowl to help turn their idea into reality.
“We started in a small room to get proof of concept and samples into the market, then jumped up to a large room as the demand grew,” Sam says.
“One benefit of The FoodBowl was a wide range of technologies under one roof for us and we didn’t have to buy equipment that we might not actually need. It was great to know The FoodBowl was there to help us grow to the point where investing in our own plant was plausible.”
Working with The FoodBowl also meant that food safety was covered.
“Being under constant scrutiny from The FoodBowl compliance team pushed us to learn and to take safety to the next level. We have now successfully commissioned our own plant that exceeds MPI’s regulatory standards,” Sam says.
“The FoodBowl does really well at introducing others in the industry and acting as a hub, it’s really cool. Everyone makes a concerted effort, you almost get ‘mini mentorships’ through the various relationships and interactions.
“We couldn’t have done things as fast without the assistance of The FoodBowl.”
Pure Foods graduated from The FoodBowl in 2018 after building their 500 square metre South Auckland plant, which provides over 200,000 meals a month. “Our vision is to nourish the world’s seniors and we do that through delivering foods that form meals and snacks to support the meal experience and clinical outcomes of seniors in New Zealand and Australia.”
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