As apart of our mission, we wanted to get in touch with some other brands that are based in Manchester. We think it’s important to build ourselves a northern snacking community to bring support to the industry.
These days most friends are made online, what some may call cyberfriends. Even though we love having lots of cyberfriends all over the world, we thought we’d finally break the ice and meet up in person!
Our hit list included Drink Hip Pop and Just Bee!
To start our Wednesday right, we drove down to the Drink Hip Pop office to meet forward thinking kombucha team. Drink Hip Pop drink was the first kombucha that the Real Handful team have tried! Elspeth met us at the door: “Our mission is to create the tastiest, functional drinks on the planet. We try and create drinks that do good and taste good. They're full of probiotics, antioxidants, and vitamins. We love being a Manchester brand because we stock our product in Manchester. We also love being a part of the Manchester community, Manchester has got such a tightknit community and we love being in it. Our cans have funky designs, so I think they blend into that artistic flair of Manchester.” We had a great morning creating content, swapping snacks, and having a laugh.
We finished our northern snacking expedition at the Just Bee hive. Just Bee provides delicious vitamin packed honey that is kind to the bees. Joe, founder gave us a tour to see the honey being made. “We aim to nurture happier, healthier lives by blending honey with vitamins and botanicals to create wellness products. We've also got a mission to save the bees and you'll see in every box we giveaway a free packet of bee saving flower seeds for people to plant with every pot sold. I've lived in Manchester most of my life. My dad and granddad were both beekeepers; Manchester is known for its working bees of Manchester, the people that live here. So, it all just sort of felt right and fell into place. The other great thing about Manchester is it supports small and growing businesses so we're proud to be business in Manchester.”
Now back in Real Handful HQ, we are pleased to say we have met some great people from the snacking industry on our travels! Northern’s are always friendly (and fuelled with great snacks!).
Stay tuned for our next adventure!