- “Our mission has always been to support fuller, fitter lives by making healthy options easily available and affordable for all. Shelf stable formats are so relevant right now – that ease and convenience is critical to consumers and we’re dedicated to driving the importance of nutritious food to eat more veg.”
Gem Misa, 43, is the co-founder of Fullgreen, an innovative plant based food company based in Battersea, London.
Passionate about healthy food and dedicated to bringing innovative food choices to the consumer, Gem launched the worlds’ first shelf stable ‘Caulirice’ in 2015.
With its clean label, non GMO veg and gluten-free/vegan credentials, the brand shot to market with gusto, attracting new stockists and customers in quick succession. And with a Global Patent covering the formula, ‘Caulirice’ soon became a major player in the low-carb rice alternative space.
Realising she was way ahead of the trend, Gem turned to equity crowdfunding to propel the business forward.
Launching on Crowdcube, the initial round raised £2m, enabling the completion of Fullgreen’s technical development, funded a prototype factory in Cambridgeshire that could manufacture their products at scale and supported the initial supermarket launch.
“We were told it was impossible to create a ready-made cauliflower rice with a long shelf life but we knew that the way we live our lives with people always on the go and too busy to cook meals from scratch meant that the convenience element was critical.”
Named a UK ‘Export Food pioneer’ by secretary of state Liz Truss, Misa She also counts Sir Richard Branson as a fan – he named Cauli Rice a finalist at ‘Pitch to Rich 2015’ and has since named the brand “one of Britain’s hottest food businesses” – an accolade which supported Fullgreen’s infiltration to the US market.
Fullgreen’s products are now produced across two dedicated UK and US production lines, enabling the timely delivery of products to over 9,000 major retailers across the UK and US, with exports to Europe, South east Asia, Canada and the Middle East.
Gem’s background
With pouch sales in the millions it’s been a busy time for Gem whose tenacity and business acumen has helped to drive the brand rapidly forward into new territories.
An authentic foodie, Gem grew up in the Philippines where she would hang off the apron strings of her mother who loved to cook healthy meals for the family.
Gem started in the corporate world with Unilever in 2001, as a management trainee. She worked her way up moving from the Philippine office then to the South African regional office and finally to the Unilever head office in London where she managed one of Unilever’s largest brands as a Global Brand Manager. The challenging role equipped Gem with an acute sense for business but also re-ignited the drive to create a new food brand. She left the business in 2009 to follow her dreams of setting up a healthy food business.
In 2010 she launched her first business – Righteous – selling all natural salad dressings. Gem’s out-of-the-box thinking and proactive approach helped the brand secure listings in Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado and Booths in the second year of trading as well as some major retailers in the USA. While the business was moderately successful, Gem continued on with her search for a product that could make a real difference to people’s health – something that wasn’t just another salad dressing but a truly unique and innovative product.
That’s when Gem & her husband Jamie stumbled upon the idea of cauliflower rice.
“We started making Cauli rice from scratch at home as an alternative to rice. It was such a great product with unbelievable health benefits but it was so time consuming and messy to make! This is where we saw a huge opportunity.”
2021 marked several important milestones including the launch of a sustainability program which saw partnerships activated with One Tree Planted and TerraCycle. Fullgreen also committed to a long term relationship with Feeding Britain and Feeding America to ensure all surplus stock was dedicated to those in need of healthy food.
Gem lives with husband Jamie and daughter Harper in Battersea, London. Fullgreen is in all major UK supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, ASDA, Morrisons, Ocado, Tesco and Wholefoods Markets. There are 2,500 US listings including Walmart, Wegmans, H.E.B, Food Lion, Fred Meyer, Wholefoods and Kroger.
For further information please visit www.fullgreen.com
