“Appearing on national TV and facing five Dragons was both nerve-wracking and exciting in equal measures”

We talk ‘radicalising’ oats, going with your gut instinct and slaying the Dragons with the co-founder of the Radical Food Company, Miriam Cox-Monahan.

The Radical Food Company is based in Dublin City and owned by Miriam Cox-Monahan and Tony Monahan. It well-known brand is called ‘Radical Oats’, a chilled oat-based all-day snack in single serve 150g tubs. It’s sold in four varieties: Honey, Strawberry, Black Cherry and Raspberry. Radical Oats is listed nationwide with Tesco, Musgrave Retail Partners, Dunnes Stores, Spar, Mace, Pallas Foods for the food service industry and Independent stores nationwide. Production is outsourced to a third party, distribution locally is by the company itself and Central distribution is through Oakland International. The company uses shelf talkers, in-store tastings, social media (Facebook and Twitter) and has an active website to get its ‘Radical Oats’ message across.

Where did the ideal for ‘Radical Oats’ come from and how did you go about setting it up?

In 2011, my second daughter, Ayesha, used to text me from school, asking for more lunch to be brought in. By 11am, she had eaten everything she had been given, although substantial. This happened so frequently, that I began to realise that in general, what was being eaten for breakfast in our house was not substantial enough. Knowing the benefits of oats, I made and encouraged everyone to eat porridge, but nobody liked porridge so I was back to square one. I still liked the idea of everyone eating oats, so using that as the main ingredient I began to play around with other ingredients until I finally came up with a recipe that resulted in a product that everyone loved. The kids then began giving it to their friends and we got such positive feedback that we thought there might be a market for the product.

Having had no experience of the food industry and not knowing where to start, we approached the Local Enterprise Office Dublin City (formerly Dublin City Enterprise Board) who pointed us in the right direction.

Tell us about your brand name; why did you chose the term 'radical'?

Very simply, as it was so different from porridge, the family called it Radical, and so, ‘Radical Oats’ was born.

You and your daughter entered the ‘Dragons Den’ in 2014 - how did that go?

Appearing on national TV and facing five Dragons was both nerve-wracking and exciting in equal measures.

Even though our pitch on TV lasted a mere 10 minutes, we actually faced the Dragons for over an hour and a half. My daughter, Tabitha, and I had prepared well and had tried to anticipate any likely questions. We spent a lot of time memorising our figures and the preparation paid off. Four offers of investment were made and we eventually accepted Eamonn Quinn’s offer. He now has a 20% stake in The Radical Food Company, in exchange for €50,000.

Biggest business challenge so far?

The biggest challenge we faced in getting started was stepping into an industry that we had no previous knowledge of. We had a steep learning curve getting Radical Oats to market, everything from shelf life challenges to suitable packaging, distribution to production.

We learnt early on, never be afraid to ask for help or guidance no matter how stupid or obvious the query was. We also invested a lot more financially in the business, than we had expected to.

As a new start-up company, what ‘Top Tips’ would you offer other start-ups?

Our top tips for new start-ups are:

• Ask plenty of questions and listen carefully to the answers
• Do a lot of market research
• Take copious notes
• Go with your gut instinct
• Be nice to everyone you meet. Smile and be friendly. It costs nothing but achieves a lot.
• Appreciate the negative comments, especially from your customers. After all, if they don’t like your product they wouldn’t bother contacting you.
• Embrace social media
• Get involved with everyone else in your Industry and give as much help as you can, freely

How has the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Dublin City helped your business grow?

We participated in the LEO Dublin City Mentoring Programme, in order to get our product ‘shelf ready’. We were further assisted with a Feasibility Study Grant and a Priming Grant, to help us expand our business further.

Tell us about those expansion plans?

Our long term ambition is for the company to be synonymous with chilled oats - that Radical Oats would be the first thing people think of when they reach for an easy convenient healthy breakfast or snack option. We aim to increase the range of products under The Radical Food Company brand and are currently looking at the UK and French markets with a view towards exporting. 

We have a new product currently under development and we hope to launch it later in the year. We’re also looking at distributing a catering option of Radical Oats across hotel chains, canteens and coffee shops. We also want to expand our team. Currently, we employ one part-time Bookkeeper and one full-time Sales Executive. We also have a team of Tasters that we employ on an ad hoc basis and are currently seeking to recruit another six.

We would hope that later this year we would be able to employ our Bookkeeper on a full time basis and recruit a PR & Marketing Executive along with a second Sales Executive.

Which businessperson in the food industry do you admire and why?

We have huge admiration and respect for James Burke of James Burke and Associates. Through the Local Enterprise Office, he has been mentoring us since day one and we can honestly say that without his help, guidance and encouragement we would not be where we are today. He’s a tough taskmaster and expects you to follow up promptly on everything he suggests.

We have on occasion justifiably received a slap on the wrist but this just spurs us on. Everyone in the food industry knows James and because his name carries a lot of weight, it helps to make us and our product more credible.

Our thanks to Miriam Cox-Monahan for taking part in this Case Study.

To find out more about the Radical Food Company or to find your nearest stockist, please visit http://www.theradicalfoodco.com