Alana Macfarlane Kempner, founder and CEO of The Gut Stuff, kicked things off at The Grocer’s SME Business Lunch at the Dorchester Hotel today. With the ink still wet on her business’ acquisition by Swiss multinational Hero Group, Kempner spoke candidly about the journey to that almost accidental exit.
Admitting that she knew almost nothing about the food & drink industry before launching The Gut Stuff with her twin sister Lisa back in 2017, Kempner explained that the twins – who were DJs on Love Island at the time – became interested in gut health quite by accident, after an analysis by Tim Spector revealed their microbiomes were “only 30% the same”, despite the pair being genetically identical.
Over the past decade, The Gut Stuff has launched a range of gut health-focused drinks and snack bars, listed by Tesco, Ocado and Boots. The twins have also published three bestselling books, launched a workplace wellness programme, hosted a gut health TV show on Channel 4 (Know Your Sh!t), and even built an app. Focusing this broad offering was key to finding the right buyer, Kempner told the room.
With their food and drink products making the most margin – and the most impact on their goal of democratising gut health – the pair decided that selling to a food & drink giant made the most sense. They also scrutinised what the right partner would actually do to develop their business. It’s all well and good promising increased distribution – but would that simply mean slapping their brand name on any new product?
When it came to agreeing on a buyer it was important to “date them first, you’re going to be in bed with them forever”, Kempner advised. This meant taking every inbound meeting to understand their perception of your business and ”not being afraid to ask stupid questions”.
She also advised startups to always operate with potential acquisition in mind. Whether it’s keeping Dropbox in order and filing everything from day one – as “disorganised records will kill you in due diligence” – or “keeping the cap table clean”, early decisions can save headaches down the line. Most importantly, go with your gut.
Fixing the food & drink talent drain
Sparked by a thought-provoking op-ed from Andrew Allen, entrepreneur in residence at Bidfood, a panel of fmcg experts gathered to discuss if food & beverage was facing a talent drain of entrepreneurs.
Allen said a growing number of founders had told him they would never start a food & beverage business again, such were the challenges of building, scaling and exiting in the current climate.
”If we have an industry where, once you lift the lid, you realise it’s not a place you really want to be, then a talent drain is inevitable,” he stated. The other panellists agreed that this challenge was further exacerbated by the demise of dedicated accelerator programmes such as Co-Op’s The Apiary and Sainsbury’s Future Brands.
Ana Martins, founder of Froot Pops, bemoaned the dominance of “a few dozen conglomerates” in the retail space, making it harder for SMEs taking their first steps in retail to stand out. “It’s a very expensive space to play in,” she said.
Adam Balon, partner at JamJar Investments, argued the challenges facing entrepreneurs were not unique to F&B, however. The UK remained a good place to start a business, although founders needed to “work incredibly hard, and also get very lucky,” to be successful, he insisted.
Despite the threats to F&B businesses posed by higher interest rates, rising costs and the growing use of GLP-1 drugs, panellists agreed there were still reasons to be cheerful, provided the right founders were able to access to the right support and guidance to grow their businesses.
Higher interest rates meant there was “a much better capital allocation to the right businesses” than pre-2022, Balon said. Meanwhile, there were “huge opportunities” for SME brands in the public sector, provided their products met the policy objectives of the government of the day, according to Karen Beech, category lead for food & drink at Government Commercial Agency.
“Product-led innovation is absolutely critical for us [in the public sector], and that’s where we can support, and deliver growth,” she added.
Beans, babies and Barcelona
Keeping entrepreneurs firmly front and centre of the morning, the final slot of the day went to Amelia Christie-Miller, founder and CEO of Bold Bean Co and winner of Entrepreneur of the Year at The Grocer Gold Awards 2025. The brand has gone from strength to strength since launching in 2020, and just last month it announced it was increasing its baked bean jar sizes by almost 20%, from 325g to 390g, while keeping prices unchanged.
The queen of beans recently had a baby and moved to Barcelona, and she spoke at length about the barriers for entrepreneurs who wish to start a family. “Talking about pregnancy is difficult, whether you’re a founder or working for a business, and there’s a lot of reasons why,” she said. “I think that in a commercial mindset, there’s also a stigma, like: ‘Oh, well, she’s going to check out.’ And those connotations are what we’re trying to kind of change.”
Christie-Miller’s decision to relocate to Barcelona while in charge of a business on the up may well have raised a few eyebrows, too. And she went on to talk about her new experience of being a remote leader and how she’s helped the business remain successful while based overseas.
“Actually, a lot of people have said: ‘You should leave the business more often, because the team have done such a good job!’ I’m winding back in at the moment, but modern tech has really helped me still have context over the business, while not being in the day to day.
“I’ve been sent recordings of major decision-making meetings, and I’m thinking: ‘Oh God, I really want someone to ask that question.’ And then obviously someone else does, because we’ve hired talented people.”
She says these types of situation have helped her face up to the “problem” of presenteeism in modern businesses. “There are businesses out there who work until 11pm at night and work weekends. We’re not one of those businesses. We don’t want to be. We really value mental health and wellness, and we have incredible retention, which is a cost we’re saving on.
“I do think that for efficiency, presenteeism is a huge issue. I like to think we don’t have that. We trust our team members, and being remote is a gift in that sense – you’re you’re forced to let go but also to create motivation in other ways. Employees are not motivated by being scared of a telling off, or by the need to work long hours, but actually by producing good results.”
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