Leeds eatery straight from the Steel City aims to Nourish the nation

“WITH this venture I wanted to make a difference to people’s lifestyles, and not just sell food” said entrepreneur and founder of Leeds eatery Nourish, David Stache.

Nourish first opened in late 2013 in Sheffield, the brainchild of entrepreneur Mr Stache, a nutritionist by trade. It is now on the verge of opening in Leeds, creating 20 jobs in the process.

Mr Stache, who studied Sports Health at Leeds Trinity, with a focus on nutrition, and went on to a Masters in Management, originally intended on going into the public health service, but, he said, “it’s just too difficult to change people’s attitudes to food from within.”

So instead of public health, seven years ago David had the idea for Nourish, originally as an add-on to a gym site, but the saturation of the gym industry dissuaded him, and his plans evolved.

“The idea for Nourish was to provide healthy food with education.” he said. “Similar models only exist in London and in the US where food trends are about four or five years ahead.” (though you wouldn’t think it had you ever seen Man vs Food)

He said: “I wanted to do things differently, and be able to take customers from Holland & Barrett as well as someone like Pret a Manger.”

Banks knocked the entrepreneur back for funding due to lack of business experience, so Mr Stache invested all his money into the business, saying “it’s only paper and plastic at the end of the day, it was about my vision for the business, that’s what kept us going.”

The firm re-invested any profit it makes into developing the business, and after a tricky first few months of getting the formula right, Nourish had established a customer base in Sheffield by early 2014.

But Mr Stache said, it was always the plan to go to Leeds next, as “Leeds is a home for me as much as Sheffield. Some of my best memories as a student were made here and my friends are here as well so it made sense from that point of view.

“It’s a big operation to get right, and it’s going to be a challenge to replicate our success in Sheffield in a much bigger place like Leeds, but if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.”
The firm has stayed true to its roots though, and has helped encourage business growth in the local community, bringing businesses together at Sheffield Independent Food Market.

Mr Stache has introduced Nourish 4 Schools, which he says, is “about sustainability and encouraging kids to eat well.”

Turning his attention to further afield, Manchester and London are the next potential locations for the firm, because of the capital’s diverse food scene because of the “diverse” food scenes in each city.

“New food trends are coming through all the time, especially from London ” he said, “and I think there is room for everyone. Burgers and BBQ are having their moment, but people have reacted to that and the healthy food trend, which has already begun in London will come here too as a balance to the barbecue.”

This change in food trends and the desire for greater knowledge about the content in their foods came after public health incidents such as the horsemeat scandal, said Mr Stache. He said: “People started wanting to know what was in the food that they’re eating.

“That came about partly because of everyday ignorance to what was in food, and now people really care.”

There are more practical reasons behind the move to healthy food. Mr Stache said: “As a nation, we consume too much meat and can’t sustain its use, it will just mean prices go up and restaurants prices will necessarily go up.

“Healthy food is about balance, and it’s not in our model to upsell, increasing people’s average spend by encouraging them to buy food they don’t need. I want to help people balance their diets. There’s nothing wrong with a pint or a curry every now and then, and we’re not exclusively for people who go to the gym.
“We’re not here to tell people what to do, I want people to relate to what we’re trying to do. It’s about what understanding what your body needs.”