The FüD Revolution is happening! We chat with Co-Founder Laura about her innovative and healthy vending machines that house nutritious and delicious compact meals that are readily available, affordable and cater to all our dietary demands.
Tell us a little about The FüD Revolution?
The FüD Revolution is the lovechild between myself and my entrepreneurial boyfriend, Dane. We have developed a range of unique vending outlets that function completely independently (no staff needed!), and we stock them fresh daily with a huge range of fresh and genuinely healthy meals, snacks, and other items dedicated to improving health and well-being. The inspiration and motivation from the food side of things came more from me, but combined with Dane’s business knowledge and desire to start new exciting things there was no stopping us! We also have the lovely Michelle, who is part of our team now, she helps us out with creative officey things whilst Dane and I slave away in the kitchen!
Such an incredible idea! How did it all come about?
FüD really came about from our frustration at not being able to access genuinely healthy fast food options when we were out and about. I’m a vegan and have an auto-immune disease and the Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which can upset digestion, so I’m often adapting my diet in order to keep my symptoms under control. This can make things tricky when trying to get a healthy snack on the go (and I am always rushing from one thing to another!) We knew that there were loads of other people who have special dietary requirements, or people who simply just want to eat genuine, real food, so we figured why not be the peeps that provide this goodness to the world? And FüD was born!
And why vending machines? (We seriously love the concept!)
Vending machines weren’t the first option we considered when planning the FüD Revolution, but the more we thought about the best way to provide, convenient and efficient meals to people on the go, we realised that vending outlets just made sense! We can put them pretty much anywhere, they only take a second to use, and they help us keep our prices down because we have lower overheads… Everyone wins!
If The FüD Revolution were a person how would you describe them?
You know that super bubbly, energetic friend everyone has? The friend who is a little bit goofy but makes you smile with their enthusiasm and lame stories.. and they always know how to make you feel and warm and fuzzy with a big ol’ bear hug! That’s FüD!!
What initially attracted you to the health food industry?
Well I’m a psychologist so I was already in the business of helping people. Food and healthy eating, particularly the connection between how food makes us feel, has always been an interest and a hobby of mine.. and it just seemed like a natural progression to step on over into this industry. I like to think that my neuroscience and psychology background provides me with a unique perspective from which I approach the role and importance of different foods in our wellbeing, and I love being able to share my knowledge and insights on this with the #FüDFamily!
Can you tell our readers what some of the best and unique ways to enjoy your products are?
The best thing about FüD is you can take it and eat in anywhere!! Inside those little jars is a fully self-contained meal you can eat on the train, in the gym, wherever. I am currently practicing riding my bike with no hands so I can try and eat a salad whilst riding!! Video to come, I promise!
Future plans for The FüD Revolution? Would you like to expand into other products?
The FüD team have big dreams and we are working on chasing them each and every day! We are in the process of adding some more snack items as well as other longer shelf-life items, like protein balls, kombucha, etc to our range. We would love to see our range of healthy vending hubs in schools, universities, workplaces, hospitals, gyms, and train stations right around Australia.. Any location where there are busy Aussies who want to be able to access genuinely healthy food, that’s where we want to be! In particular, locations that are often isolated or restricted from conventional food services, such as geographically isolated offices, or 24 hours workplaces where food options are limited after hours, we want to help those peeps out by providing them with FüD options 24/7. At this stage, we plan to open up five more healthy vending hubs in Victoria before the end of 2015, and in 2016 we plan to expand nationally. We are currently taking expressions of interest for our healthy vending hubs right around Australia. We want our healthy vending hubs to be everywhere!!
As a growing business, what are some of the simple ways people can get behind businesses like The FüD Revolution?
We would love for everyone to join the #FüDFamily, try some of our healthy goodies, and spread the good word about FüD! We can also stock our fresh made products in pretty much any venue (think gyms, yoga studios, workplaces, schools, etc) so if any other wonderful business owners out there want to provide their customers with delicious healthy food options, we’d love to hear from them!
And lastly, where can we get our hands on some of you delicious products?
We currently have our flagship vending outlet in Westfield Doncaster shopping centre – right in front of the foodcourt! We also have a pop-up outlet inside the HoMie store (our mates that support the homeless), in Melbourne Central (lvl 2, near the Glue store) …fingers crossed we might be getting a permanent vending outlet in Melb Central soon!
Head over to People + Profiles to meet Local Love – Laura Anderson Co-Founder of FüD Revolution.
W: www.thefudrevolution.com
I: @the_fud_revolution #thefüdrevolution #jointherevolution #FüDFamily
F: www.facebook.com/thefudrevolution
T: @fudrevolution #thefüdrevolution #jointherevolution #FüDFamily
E:
Location: Lvl 1, 92 Bridge Road, Richmond 3121
Vending: Lvl 1 Foodcourt, Westfield Doncaster, 619 Doncaster Rd., Doncaster 3108
Pop-up: HoMie Store, Lvl 2, Melbourne Central, Cnr Swanston and LaTrobe St, Melbourne
What do we offer? Gourmet healthy fast food options meeting a wide array of food sensitivities. We offer fresh healthy food vending options for large workplaces, schools, gyms, etc, as well as pop-up self-serve fridges or direct catering for smaller venues. All meals are served in our recyclable BPA-free plastic mason jars, so they are the perfect travel companion!
We have also got some other very exciting locations around Melbourne that will be launching soon. Check out our website for all the deets on new locations as they happen!
