Nearly two years ago, I started a nutritional therapy course. I wasn’t actually sure why. My parents loaned me the money and I had a feeling something would come out of it. I didn’t necessarily want to work with people, it requires too much convincing, but I am obsessed with food. In a previous chapter I was a chef and before that a cook in a small tearooms. I stumbled across bone broth during an assignment. Bought some bones from my local butcher and started making a mess in my kitchen. I fed it to my eight week old puppy and made thai chicken broths, I drank it warmed up on cold winter nights in Fatima (my home). I started to research the benefits and became rather consumed by it. Steph Bones, I introduced myself as. I saw a gap in an undersaturated broth market and decided to tap into it. I have A LOT to say about the journey I have been on so far with Asthi, my Sussex made, locally sourced bone broth which I will drip feed as I go along.
I do want to share some encouraging news though. Two months ago I applied for a rural business start-up grant with the council and I am ecstatic to say that it has been accepted and I received the signed contracts last week giving me the go ahead to buy a bratt pan (large commercial slow cooker), blast chiller (enabling me to extend my shelf-life) and a large commercial fridge. There is still a bit to do before re-launching. Testing, testing, testing.
I AM SO READY TO HUSTLE.
There are still many paragraphs to Asthi’s start-up story that I am yet to navigate. I am constantly learning, reading founder stories, listening to podcasts, researching how I can make Asthi unique. As consumers, we tend to see the end product, the multibillion pound businesses such as Nike, the shoe company, and think they got there with no fuss. That is so far from the truth. It takes someone who is more afraid of never doing it than doing it and failing to start a business - that is me. I am the company director of Asthi Limited.