F&D Heroes Issue 1

Food & Drink Hero:
Purely
Following many years of travelling around South America, Stefania fell in
love with plantains, and decided that this would be the first product of many.
Stef’s vision is to create a range of snacking products sourced from around
the world with the Purely twist!
I was born with a curious mind. My mission
in life is to make the world a little less boring.
I have been an explorer from a young age,
and I’m excited by the world, diverse cultures
and different ways of living.
more like an assured, highly nutritious
vegetable than a fruit.
I have chased variety all my life, growing
up in a little Italian town called Mesagne, a
seaside village in Pugla of 20,000 people - a
quaint, tucked-away town where everyone
knows everything about each other.
As an Italian it was inevitable that food
would sit at the heart of home life and most
conversations, but for me it was also the
spark to study languages & international
business and travel.
After graduation I had no idea what I wanted
to do. My two passions were languages and
solving problems and somehow I wanted
to combine the two. A European placement
opportunity got me a role in the marketing
department of a Welsh company supporting
women in business. My next stop was
BanaBay, a fresh fruit import and export
business, which traded in South America and
played to my Spanish speaking strengths
Over the next few years I would accompany
my colleague on Spanish speaking trips
to Ecuador, The Dominican Republic and
Colombia primarily for procurement reasons,
but increasingly negotiations. In no time,
Ecuador developed a special place in my
heart and I wondered how I could share this
experience with others.
Plantain, a popular street food, seemed the
perfect bridge, especially as the incumbent
plantain brands in the UK targeted ethnic
and Caribbean communities as opposed to
the mainstream.
Plantain for the uninitiated is the humble,
unassuming cousin of the highly energised
banana, a savoury relative that behaves
In stark contrast to our ‘plantain
peers,’ we refused to dabble with
preservatives, additives or palm oil.
We wanted to really bring a fresh
proposition to the market, using only
the finest natural ingredients that
would support the snacking needs of
various ‘food minorities’ (vegans, freefrom
community….) and healthier living
snack enthusiasts.
In short, we had started on an
adventure to showcase amazing
products from around the globe.
Plantain is the beginning but not the
end of the adventure as we have a lot
more innovation coming down the line.
welovepurely.com
@WeLovePurely
@welovepurely
29