How Manna started
Manna began trading at North Greenwich tube station as a pop up street foodstall on a very cold winter's day, precisely 5th January 2015. Not the best timing for an outdoor enterprise, however, we needed to test the concept, to delay the start date would have just been an excuse to not confront the anxiety that builds up when faced with new challenges. The challenge was severe, gruelling and soul destroying!. If there was one valuable experience from this exercise, it was a crash course on human behaviour.
Eating for the seasons is a fundament component to wellbeing, nature knows what our bodies need. January is not th
e time to introduce wholegrains wholefoods, winter salads, and such like, the public's mood was absolute antipathy, " Buckwheat porridge with Brazil nut mylk served with stewed winter apples" was not appealing, however, a bacon butty would have gone down a "treat".
So, what armoury did we adopt? huge dollops of Conviction Determination Faith & Persistence.
Day in, week in, month in, we toiled, each week we introduced a new wholegrain such as Amaranth or Teff, we introduced a new nut mylk, oats or tiger nuts, we continued to offer different ranges of breakfast options, gluten free, sugar free, dairy free. Seasonal winter salads with land cress, pusulane, chiggio beetroot, kohlrabi, nourishing soups roasted jerusalem artichokes, such was our enthusiam and passion to enlighten our prospective customers. Sweet treats were a later addition, early spring seemed a good time to experiment with all the delicious seasonal apples, pears. Exotic fruits are also delicious during our winter time. Apple cinnamon loaf, teff banana muffins, raw chai brownie, beetroot brownie, flapjacks... These options were suddenly the turning point.
Jo public loves "sugar" But we do not use sugar..(or more accurately. refined sugar). The natural ingredients used in our sweet treats offer a whole new dimension to indulgance..
Where are we today? The North Greenwich pitch was too challenging for many reasons, the footfall although immense was in too much of a hurry to arrive at their final destinations (work), the weather "windy Pininsula" was at times a health hazard, the hit rate or appetite for healthy was just too low to survive.
We are now concentrating on distribution. Supplying small independant Cafes locally.
There is greater awareness about eating to nourish your body and our plant based ingredients are naturally gluten free, dairy free, sugar free which is increasingly appealing to a niche crowd.
Our snacks and healthier sweet treat options are unique, they are exceptionally tasty, we urge you to challenge your sensory and compare our flavours to anything that adorns the many eateries offering healthy snacks. We do not use preservatives, additives, refined starches or sugars. All our flavour enhances are natural cinnamon or nutmeg, or zesty peels.
You can find our range at Leaf & Bean in Rotherhide.
We also offer bespoke private catering, with the emphasis on seasonal, food combining together with wne pairings. Our list of winemakers are naturally selected for their ethos and approach to mother nature. They are small independant, passionate and unique.
We have also worked with local councils who are interested to adopt our principles into their communities through education and practice of better healthier eating.
