Rethinking Beans with Amelia, Founder of the Bold Bean Co

Join Kat as she explores the world of beans with Amelia Christie Miller, founder of Bold Beans, in this episode about revolutionising our relationship with food. From a hungover morning in Madrid to creating a movement that is changing how we think about beans, Amelia shares her journey of building a premium brand that's taking the UK by storm. Learn how this simple food could be the answer to better mental health, sustainability and why some of the biggest names in food retail are taking notice. This episode will challenge your preconceptions about beans and might just change how you think about your next meal!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Amelia's ‘bean awakening’ came during her time in Spain, where a jar of quality butter beans transformed her perception and sparked a mission to change how the UK thinks about beans
• Through her work in food sustainability, she discovered beans were not just delicious but could help solve major environmental challenges like soil erosion and food security
• Her experience watching top chefs choose beans over fake meats showed her there was a gap in the market for premium, quality beans that could revolutionise plant based cooking
• As a founder, she learned that maintaining positivity in the face of larger competitors copying her product was crucial, focusing on building community rather than dwelling on setbacks
• Her approach to marketing has been built on the surprising power of customer obsession because people becoming genuinely excited about beans has created organic growth through word of mouth
• She's observed that the biggest barrier to bean consumption isn't the beans themselves but people not knowing what to do with them, leading to her focus on accessible, delicious recipes
• In running Bold Beans, she's discovered firsthand how having beans readily available has improved her focus, productivity and eating habits
• Despite being a premium brand, she believes making beans "cool" can have a trickle down effect that benefits everyone, similar to how avocados became mainstream

BEST MOMENTS

"I was horrified about the idea that we were eroding all of our topsoil and in the future we wouldn't have any healthy soil to farm from. So all roads just led to beans."

"I think the biggest problem in our food culture is this obsession with convenient foods rather than, unlike the Mediterranean countries where food and eating and cooking is so innately part of their everyday life."

"One of our values is 'full of beans,' which is about positive energy and feeling positive... The irony is if you are full of beans, you are full of beans."

"I think it's one of those things where people sort of find it entertaining, people becoming obsessed, and it's actually become an amazing marketing approach for us."

"We have lost touch with that connection with where food comes from and what we're actually putting in our bodies."

ABOUT THE GUEST

What started with a hungover epiphany eating Queen Butter Beans straight from a jar has grown into Amelia's mission to make the world bean obsessed. Bold Bean Co is now stocked in Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ocado, selling award-winning jarred beans and gourmet baked beans to those looking for healthy, natural and crucially, uncompromisingly delicious food.

Through her content, Amelia shares candid insights on startup life, navigating leadership while embracing femininity, building purpose-driven brands, and why beans are both our past AND our future.

Bold Bean Co Website

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ABOUT THE HOST

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed. The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship and career. She suffered a severe breakdown and lost everything. In the middle of this she got headhunted for her first CEO role. She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit, and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself. 

She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe. 

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