22. Pip & Nut

Founder: Pip Murray
Founded: June 2013 (Launched January 2015)
Website: www.pipandnut.com

Built on the principle that “health food should never be boring”, Pip & Nut is the all-natural nut butter brand that’s updating one of the nation’s favourite sandwich fillings and snacks.

Startups Awards 2016 Women in Business Award winner Pip Murray had her ‘lightbulb moment’ while training for a marathon. She loved to snack on peanut butter but found the brands available used palm oil – known to be a major source of trans fats – and sugar, while the healthier varieties were uninspiring.

Following a period of intense recipe testing and a crowdfunding campaign that brought in £120,000 in just nine days, Pip & Nut was born, with a mission to provide customers with healthy, uniquely-flavoured nut butter.

Soon enough, Pip & Nut’s coconut and almond butter had won The Grocer New Product Award and went on to represent the UK in the SIAL World Tour Awards in 2016. The start-up’s more recent flavours have also proved popular, with four new taste varieties due to hit shelves in June this year.

With unique flavour and size varieties and an engaging online presence that has amassed over 85,000 social media followers, Murray seems to have hit upon a perfect recipe, with Pip & Nut now sold in over 3,000 stores.

It has also caught the attention of a number of top customers and brands. Its on-the-go 30g ‘squeeze packs’ are popular among fitness fans and have been supplied to Chelsea Football Club, alongside the England and Scotland rugby teams. Its 1kg vats are also supplied to high-profile restaurant chains including LEON and Pret a Manger.

Over the next year, Murray plans to double the business, expanding overseas into the Nordics, the UAE and the Netherlands, with revenue projections in excess of £5.5m. We expect that Murray will continue to see consumers going nuts about her brand over the coming year.