Paul Findlay, founder of muesli brand Yousli, talks to Food mag about the struggles of launching a food brand today and what makes Yousli unique.
TELL US ABOUT YOUSLI. WHAT WAS THE THOUGHT BEHIND IT AND WHEN WAS IT LAUNCHED?
I was tired of spending so much time in the supermarket aisle, looking for muesli that was right with me. Most of the mixes had too much sugar, salt or saturated fats…or they were just plain boring in taste and texture. So I started buying whole foods and pulling together my own mixes using seeds, grains, fruit and nuts, and felt much better for it. But it got tricky trying to keep ingredient supplies up; it got quite expensive and I found there was a lot of wastage. There had to be a better way, I thought, and so the Yousli concept was born.
I created Yousli to get people excited about brekky again – it’s feel-good, simple and easy, putting the ‘You’ back into your muesli. You can order your muesli online in no time, creating your own custom mix just the way you like it. It’s then delivered to your door in two to five days, or in some parts of Melbourne the same day.
To make life even easier, we have a delicious range of Pre-Mades – five in total – including our first Favourite Foodie blend, Shane Delia's Shameless Delight. We only use delicious whole foods – so our mueslis are delicious as well as nutritious.
WHAT IS YOUR UNIQUE SELLING POINT? WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES THE BRAND SPECIAL?
What makes Yousli so special is that as a brand, it’s not about us, it’s about the consumer. We mix muesli your way using delicious, healthy whole foods.
Another unique selling point is that when ordering your Yousli you can be guided by the Yousli Online Nutritional Calculator. Developed by author and nutritionist Arabella Forge, the calculator updates your mix’s nutritional content with every scoop, so you can be sure that your mix is not just yummy but good for you too.
WHAT WAS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT LAUNCHING YOUR OWN FOOD MANUFACTURING BRAND? HOW DID YOU OVERCOME IT?
The hardest thing I would say would be getting our food suppliers and distribution partners on board, keeping in mind we deliver throughout Australia. We spent a lot of time up front (just over four months) meeting with suppliers and distribution companies. There was a lot of sampling and testing of products and services until finally will found the right partners for our business. It was hard work at first, but well worth it in the long run.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING THE INDUSTRY AT THE MOMENT?
For us it's distribution. It's a challenge to get our product out to anywhere in Australia at a reasonable rate. We only charge $3.95 delivery to anywhere in Australia, and it's free delivery for orders over $25. So that means we pay for the additional delivery fees over $3.95, but we feel this is worthwhile to make the product more accessible to our customers.
WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST REWARDING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
Getting those feel-good vibes out there, educating people about the benefits of eating wholefoods and hearing that we’re getting people excited about brekky again. And we have had amazing feedback on the taste and quality of Yousli.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BRAND?
We have lots of exciting plans for Yousli, including an Activated Almond Bircher (launching at the start of December for Summer) and we'll be releasing healthy and delicious Yousli bars for next year. We also have a few exciting new Favourite Foodies launching their own Yousli blends.
TELL US ABOUT THE PACKAGING/LOGO/DESIGN. WHAT WAS THE THOUGHT BEHIND THEM?
The packaging itself is a heavy-duty cylindrical tube, great for posting and easy to pour out of. It has a special foil lining inside so that our product stays fresh. The branding is very simple – a mono black print on brown paper. We have a little smiley face at the top of our tubes, to embrace the feel-good factor and also to make sure a little somebody smiles at you each morning.