NI woman launches new seed mix business after career switch to become nutritional therapist

Northern Ireland entreprenuer, Jade Bradley, has launched a new seed mix business called Balance: Food to Go.

Through her own development, nutritional therapist Jade has created a snack that offers an alternative promoting good diet, lifestyle and well-being.

Jade (35) from Londonderry explained: “I began studying to change my career whenever I was 28 years old.

“I went to London and studied to become a nutritional therapist. I did that for three years, and whenever I qualified, I came back and you know, I saw the need for support. There are a lot of services with mental health, but most of them weren’t supporting nutritional changes, and holistic lifestyle change to a great extent.

“That was until I was lucky enough to cross paths with Caroline McMenamin, CBT therapist and founder of Replenish, a local mental health service. Since then myself and Caroline have worked closely to combine nutritional therapy, and CBT to support health and wellbeing.

“We have seen amazing results and most recently in our Smart Cookie programme (@smartcookie_newfoodhabit) that supports healthier relationships with food for health and wellbeing whilst moving away from toxic diet culture that is so common nowadays.”

Jade’s new business incentive was launched in the New Year. Customers have the option to choose from savoury, salty, smokey or spicy mixes of seeds. The ingredients in each jar includes a mix of seeds, local Broighter Gold flavoured rapeseed oil, tamari soy sauce, coconut oil and dried spices, with no artificial colourings, flavourings or preservatives.

Jade believes there is a need for local ‘food education’: “I came back and went self-employed. My initial business is Restore Nutrition. Over time I began working with private clients, charity groups, community groups and educating them on nutrition and how it supports health and well being.

“Here there is a need for merging the nutrition side along with the education side. Food is a passion of mine. I love cooking and making food tasty which is also healthy and nutritious. I don’t really like to use the word ‘healthy’ because I think it’s kind of in the eye of the beholder if you know what I mean.”

Jade has been using the Foodovation Centre, which is a commercial kitchen in the North West Regional College (NWRC).

Jade explained: “We’ve been working on different products, not just the seeds, mostly plant based products, well they are all plant based actually.

“The seed mix evolves with different flavours, so it has gone from being one seed mix to a range of four. The Foodovation Centre helped with all the red tape and the loopholes with environmental health, and making sure you are doing everything right.

“The big thing for me, because I am gluten and dairy intolerant, I wanted to make sure allergens are well managed. The seeds are vegan and they’re made using gluten free ingredients. I’ve been literally labelling them here at home and packing them up.

“I haven’t been making massive amounts, but I actually sold the first batch off the back of one Instagram post. I’ve got five confirmed stockists so it’s small steps in the right direction, and I don’t want to run before I can walk.”

Rita O’Kane is the product development technical consultant at NWRC. With Rita’s expertise and help, Jade has successfully received a grant from the NI Economy programme: Innovate Us.

“This is just the beginning of Balance,” added Jade. “If you notice online, the social media handle is Balance: Food to Go. I want this to grow into a bigger concept. It’s not just a snack range. The seed mixes add flavour, texture and bring nutritious benefits to meals. In the future I would see there being a premises and, you know, in time, there could be Balanced chains around Ireland and the UK. I am continuing to grow the business, but I don’t really see that there’s any kind of limit to where it can go really.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you