Gut Instincts: How Natasha Bowes is Redefining Dairy with Biotiful
In today’s blog, we sit down with Natasha Bowes, the visionary founder of Biotiful, a brand revolutionising the dairy aisle with delicious, gut-friendly kefir products. From her journey as a professional athlete to building a health-focused business, Natasha shares her passion for wellness, sustainability and the inspiration behind Biotiful. Join us as we explore how she turned her love for nutrition into a thriving brand, bringing in revenue of over £23M in 2023, that’s making a positive impact on both people and the planet.
Join us at CHEERS! The Drinks Summit on 15th October 2024 where Natasha will be delivering the keynote talk and delving further into the triumphant story of Biotiful.
Where did the idea for Biotiful come from?
I grew up doing competitive sport and nutrition and naturally healthy eating has always been a big and necessary part of my life. I came to the UK 25 years ago, loved so many wonderful things about living here, yet missed a number of naturally functional products that used to be my staples, especially clean, cultured dairy products. ‘The last straw’ though was shortly after the birth of my daughter, I remember looking at the BOP of the growing-up milk I was recommended for her and being dismayed with how un-natural that and its alternative options were. Growing up with Kefir, I knew it was an excellent way to bring clean, natural Gut Health solutions to my family and other families around me – and resolved to launch the UK’s first Kefir brand as a result, categorically changing my career direction.
Were there any key moments that solidified your belief that kefir could succeed in the UK market?
There’s nothing quite like the moment when you first see the brand you’ve developed on the shelves of a major retailer. The first few years of building the business and brand were very intense, very hands-on – and often involved early morning starts as I got the train to the dairy to personally oversee the Kefir production, and working most weekends.
Seeing the Biotiful brand on the shelves of Sainsbury’s (our first major UK retailer) and being rolled out to their full estate within 6 months due to incrementality, was a major milestone. Hearing from a large competitor that ‘Biotiful changed the way UK retailers thought about Innovation in Dairy’ by putting Health at the heart of it, was a significant moment for me personally. Yet, the most important factor of staying passionate and focused over the years for me has been the ability to learn and develop every single day, whilst making people’s lives healthier, naturally.
Have you encountered any moments where being a female founder presented unique challenges? How did you navigate through them?
The biggest challenge I faced was probably one that anyone who is creating a new category would face – convincing key stakeholders in validity of your product and brand. Certainly in the early days, when almost nobody in the UK knew what Kefir was, and when few people understood the importance of good Gut Health, it often felt like a challenge just to be heard.
Two important lessons from that time – one is to stick to your vision of what you are trying to achieve, and the second is to let the quality of your product speak for itself.
What’s the one piece of advice you wish you had received when you were first starting out in the drinks industry?
Biotiful Gut Health now has a team of nearly 50 people, working closely together in our Head Office in Hammersmith. When you are starting off, the biggest challenge is in finding the right people to help you on this challenging yet exciting journey. I’ve always endeavoured to build a team of the best specialists in their areas and I wish I started that process sooner.
What’s a typical day in the life like for you at work?
As the CEO of a dynamic, fast-growing SME, my days tend to be rather full-on. I like getting up early (before 6am), have a healthy, protein and fibre-rich breakfast, and walk to the office. Once I’m there, for most of the day, I’ll be involved in meetings across different parts of the business - from New Product Development, to Sales, Supply Chain, or Marketing. I’ll often talk to key suppliers or customers in person or on the phone - a good business is based on strong personal relationships. If my daughter is home from school, I’ll occasionally work from home in the afternoons to spend more time with her.
What do you see as the future of gut health and probiotics in food? What excites you the most about the future of Biotiful?
In a nutshell – further growth in awareness and focus on clean ingredients and personalisation. Twelve years on from the launch of Biotiful, I am so proud of the consumer feedback we consistently receive, highlighting how regular consumption of Biotiful Kefir products (Drinks, Yogurts, Protein) have improved their life in some significant way – digestion, energy skin, mood. This is the main reason I know we are on the right track and of course we never stop innovating!