Nutcessity is a tree nut butter brand that was established in 2016 by Oxford Brookes business graduate, Mike Duckworth.
Mike discovered nut butters when he was studying in Australia. On his return, after working at organic pioneers Abel & Cole and Better Food in Bristol, he realised that the UK was missing peanut butter alternative that was nutritious, delicious and organic certified. All Nutcessity’s products are plant based, organic, plastic-free certified and contain no added oil or sugar.
Mike & Nutcessity also support FRANK Water in their mission to provide safe, clean drinking water to Nepalese & Indian Communities, by donating 1% of the company’s profits to the charity each year. Mike would like to increase this percentage as the business grows.
Each nut butter is made from a mix of different nuts and seeds, including brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts. No additional oil is added.
Flavours
Nutcessity brand includes the following products:
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Choc Haz Braz – New
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Caromel Cashew – Great Taste 2020
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Gingerbread Almond – Christmas best seller
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Date & Walnut – ‘Great Taste’ 2019 & 2020
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Coffee & Walnut – Keto and Caffeinated
You can buy all flavours direct from the Nutcessity website.
Crowdfunding
Having begun conversations with a number of lead investors, Mike is preparing for a crowdfunding campaign that is due to go live with Seedrs later in 2021, in order to grow and develop the business and begin growing a core team.
What made you decide to join the OTB?
“I wanted to connect with like-minded people who care about the organic movement. During lockdown, membership offers a good opportunity to connect with other organic brands and businesses.”
Nuggets for start-ups
As Mike has recently gone through the process of setting up his business, we asked him if he has any nuggets of wisdom that he’s learnt through the process that other start-ups may find useful to know:
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Sleep on decisions, resist ‘jumping in’
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Put technical and quality first; make sure you have a safe, long shelf-life, delicious product.
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Be really careful with how you price your product. Factor in future potential price rises and wholesale margins if you’re going that route.
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Always be nice and be honest to people. Respect your own reputation.
If you would like to connect with Nutcessity you can email Mike, here.
Follow Nutcessity on Instagram here
