Camilla Barnard

I’m not sure I’d recommend starting a business and a family at the same time as a great lifestyle choice. They are two of the most demanding and all-consuming things one can do. I certainly didn’t plan it that way and I had no idea what I was getting into on either count. In my defence, the two were linked. Starting a family is a major life change, and for me - as it is for many people - it was the time when I took stock of what I was eating and what I was giving our children to eat. Pre-children, I hadn’t paid too much attention to the nutritional information on cereal packets or looked closely at ingredients, but when I did, I had the sense of being led up the garden path by health promises that were all smoke and mirrors. This was the catalyst for starting Rude Health.

We’ve refined how we express our principles over the years, but the principles themselves haven’t changed one bit. On every pack we state: “We only use the kind of ingredients you’d have in your own kitchen - nothing artificial, nothing refined. We source our ingredients from fields, orchards and vines - not laboratories. We think food should be made out of food - not thickeners, preservatives, colourings, flavourings and other additives.” We don’t promise miracles either. Food is about long-term nourishment, not instant weight loss, or getting the glow.

One of the tests of these principles whenever we make a new food is: ‘Would I be happy for my children to eat it?’ It’s the ultimate test and everything we make has to pass. So the surprise is that it’s taken us until now to make a children’s cereal. The main reason for this is the double challenge of appealing to the sensibilities of parents and the tastebuds of children. The two aren’t always compatible, but early reactions to our Organic Honey Spelt Puffs suggest we may have found a happy balance.

It must be the simplest children’s cereal available, with only two ingredients: spelt and honey. Equally importantly it’s very moreish and, as a bonus to us, we’ve never had more fun creating a pack of food. I for one am dying to continue the conversation between our Mouse & Owl characters, so here’s hoping that we’ve got the balance right. If parents approve of the food and children enjoy it, then there’s plenty more where this came from.

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