Pow Food: Pioneering Sustainable, Nutritious Dining for Workplaces and Homes
- Mumble Forum
- Mar 26
- 7 min read
In a world where workplace catering often prioritizes convenience over quality, Pow Food is setting a new standard, one that champions nutrition, sustainability, and wellbeing. Founded by mother-daughter duo Ali and Emily, the company blends years of high-end catering expertise with a deep commitment to health-driven, responsibly sourced meals. As the first female-founded catering company to earn B Corp certification, Pow Food is not just serving meals; it's redefining workplace wellness with nutrient-rich menus, sustainable practices, and an expanding range of home-delivery options. By prioritizing health over profit, Pow Food ensures that every bite delivers lasting benefits for both people and the planet.
1. Hi, Ali and Emily. It’s lovely to chat with you both. Every time we look at your beautiful Pow Food website, we are inspired (and hungry!). Where does your love of healthy, nutritious food come from?
Ali: Thank you! Food has always been at the heart of our family, and my passion for healthy, nutritious meals started long before Pow Food was born. I’ve been running a healthy catering company since 2008, focusing on gluten- and dairy-free, nutritionally designed services. In those early days, I worked predominantly on high-end photography shoots, catering to LA talent who had very specific dietary needs as instructed by their personal nutritionists. It was an incredible experience that deepened my understanding of the power of food in fueling performance, both physically and mentally. In 2018, Emily and I joined forces with a shared vision: to revolutionise workplace catering. We saw a huge gap in the market, companies were investing in team catering, but often the food provided wasn’t aligned with wellbeing or productivity. We wanted to change that by offering meals that not only taste amazing but also support energy levels, focus, and overall wellness. Our approach enables companies to double the value of their team catering budgets, providing nutritious team lunches that truly support employee wellbeing. Food has always been my passion, but being able to use it to positively impact people’s health and performance in the workplace is what drives me every day.
Emily: I have felt incredibly passionate about nutrition for years, after recovering from an eating disorder which led to osteoporosis as a teenager. Through my recovery, I really learned how to enjoy good food again, and part of this journey was learning how to eat to support my mental and physical health properly. I became a health coach after working on superyachts in my early twenties, super interested in different cuisines and learning more about the power of food as medicine. I am now currently doing a nutrition degree, continuing this learning!
2. We love a powerful mother-daughter duo! Can you tell us how your business came about and what it’s been like working together?
Ali: We love working together, though, like any mother-daughter duo, we have our moments! That said, our different strengths make us a great team. We balance each other well, making well-rounded decisions from different perspectives.
We challenge each other (in the best way!) but always have each other’s backs. At the end of the day, our passion for what we do keeps us focused on our mission to revolutionise workplace catering.
Emily: Coming from different generations, our skills and experience complement each other well. In any family business relationship, you have to have clear boundaries and roles. It’s beautiful working with the person who knows you most - but this also comes with its challenges!
3. How have you worked to differentiate Pow Food from other meal or food delivery options, and the likes of (the less desirable but convenient) Deliveroo etc?
Ali: We set ourselves apart from other caterers by prioritising health over profit, an approach that may seem unconventional but is key to long-term success. More companies are recognising that nutrition is the foundation of workplace wellness, and providing employees with the right food in the right way is becoming essential to productivity and overall success. Our focus isn’t just on convenience but on delivering high-quality, nutritionally balanced meals that genuinely support wellbeing.
Emily: We have a very clear mission with nutrition, sustainability and taste being at the forefront of all we do. Our customers buy into this mission, and we love working with them as it’s natural, flowing synergy! At the foundation of this is quality ingredients, so while food delivery platforms fit a purpose, the restaurants aren’t able to make a profit on them so compromises have to be made. I suppose the proof is in the pudding, and once customers and clients experience our food, they’re usually sold!
4. Why was it important for Pow Food to bring nutritionists on board, and how involved they are in creating your dishes?
Our nutritionist team is absolutely essential to what we do. While health starts with high-quality ingredients, true nutritional benefits come from expert design. Cooking is a science, and so is nutrition, they work hand in hand. Our nutritionist team ensures that every dish is carefully balanced to support energy, focus, and overall wellbeing, making our meals more than just delicious, they’re designed to fuel performance.
5. Ali, you have an impressive catering background, which you built as a single mum. How did you navigate running a business in those years? And, at the same time, creating nourishing, healthy food at home?
Ali - To be honest, it was tough, and I worked on a part-time basis while raising my family. Before launching Pow Food, I spent 20 years gaining experience in high-end events, weddings, and photographic shoots, but it wasn’t until I was 51, just nine years ago, that I was able to fully focus on my career. Balancing business and family life wasn’t always easy, but nourishing, healthy food was always a priority at home, just as it is in my work. That passion for quality, wellbeing, and nutrition is what ultimately shaped Pow Food into what it is today.
6. The founder/co-founder journey is never without challenges or bumps in the road! Can you tell us about some of those times, and how you have bounced back?
Emily - Absolutely, the founder journey is full of challenges! For us, one major hurdle came just a year after we launched when Covid hit. We had to make some tough decisions about whether to close down or press on, and ultimately we opted to adapt our business model.
Our mission was to revolutionise workplace wellness through food, and essentially it still is part of our mission but as the pandemic unfolded, workplace culture drastically changed and so few people were going into the office so we had to set up other revenue streams and be incredibly flexible to sustain our services in workplaces. During this time, we developed our home delivery range as a different model, which helped us reach new customers and diversify our revenue streams. We still run this side of the business today, even while the catering business is back in full swing! We realised the need to mitigate our risks for if anything like Covid happened again, as we could lose our workplace customers overnight. Cash flow was another significant challenge. We had to navigate tighter budgets and find creative solutions to keep our operations running smoothly. Through it all, we learned the importance of resilience and flexibility. Each challenge has offered us valuable lessons and helped shape our company into what it is today.
7. In March 2023 you became the first female founded catering company to become BCorp certified. Congratulations! How did you achieve this, and what spurred you on to get there?
We’ve always believed in the importance of sustainability and making a positive impact through our business. Sustainability is such a multifaceted and ever-evolving journey but having studied Business Sustainability Management through Cambridge University, I had some expertise in how to make it one of our core values. We worked out the key areas of our environmental plan, and it was through this process that we decided to try and become BCorp certified.
Not only does it help us share our values with more people, but it also keeps us accountable for our growth and improvement. There’s a BCorp reassessment every three years and the standards keep shifting, which definitely adds a bit of a challenge.
The initial application process took us a year, and we learned so much along the way. It’s been quite the experience!
8. Emily, we admire how you address mental health on social media, and share your experience and advice to help others. As a co-founder wearing many other hats too, are there practices you do to look after yourself mentally (and/or physically) that are key to your wellbeing?
Emily - Juggling life and work responsibilities can be difficult but maintaining my mental and physical wellbeing is essential. It’s all about balance. I make a conscious effort to listen to my body and prioritise movement, whether it’s yoga, Pilates, running, or simply walking, depending on what I feel I need that day. Nutrition plays a vital role as well; as soon as I’m too busy to eat properly I see a noticeable difference in my mood, energy, sleep and more. And lastly - sleep, which I’ve only recently started to prioritise more. I don’t know if it’s entering my 30s but I can’t function on less than 6 hours sleep anymore! Essentially, you can’t pour from an empty cup so taking time for self-care is crucial.
9. What’s your favourite Pow Food dish, and who would be your dream dinner guest?
Ali: Beef bourguignon and Hugh Grant
Emily: Trout teriyaki! And Leo Woodall
10. What is next for Pow Food?
It’s hard to know where to begin, there’s a lot going on this year with both Pow Food, and Pow Food at Home. We’ve welcomed some new people to the Pow family, and have worked with our nutrition and marketing team to launch a nutritional programme for workplace clients. And with this, some new catering product lines and an online ordering platform! For our home customers, keep a look out for some new recipes, potential pop ups and more. We have some exciting initiatives ahead, as we continue to champion nutrition led wellbeing both in the workplace and at home.
At Pow Food Catering, we have just launched our new Nutritional Education Programme, the first of its kind in the UK. This initiative pairs nutrient-rich catering with expert-led workshops, helping businesses support employee wellbeing, productivity, and long-term health through food. We’re then also introducing new targeted meal bundles to Pow Food At Home, including our Revision Bundle, created to fuel focus, concentration and brain health during study and exam periods, and our upcoming Menopause Support Bundle, designed to provide hormone-balancing, energy-boosting nutrition aimed to support women in their next chapter.
