“Don’t play with your food” may be a phrase you heard as a child, or perhaps have said to your own children. As it turns out, children really should be playing with their food. Because when they do – especially with vegetables – they’re more likely to eat them later in the day and in the years to follow.
Today, 30% of UK children are classified as overweight or obese by the time they turn 5. Ella’s Kitchen, the UK’s number one baby food brand, believes intervention is coming too late. The company’s purpose–to improve children’s lives through developing healthy relationships with food–started with founder Paul Lindley in 2006 and lives on today with CEO Mark Cuddigan. Determined to raise the next generation, Ella’s Kitchen has marched on the House of Parliament with children, engaged retailers, launched new products, made healthy products more affordable, and launched informative campaigns. In addition to caring for the health of their little consumers, Ella’s Kitchen is implementing sustainable practices into operations and bringing its supply chain partners along for the journey.
We invited Mark Cuddigan, CEO of Ella’s Kitchen, to share how he advanced the company’s purpose and sustainability initiatives since taking over from Lindley.
Listen for Mark’s insights on:
- How a new CEO can sustain and advance a company’s purpose while leaving their own mark after the departure of a founder.
- How to maintain a values-based culture after a company has been acquired.
- How to help supply chain partners adopt sustainable and purpose-driven practices.
- Why it’s sometimes okay to take a financial loss if an investment advances purpose over the long term.
Links & Notes
- Mark Cuddigan’s LinkedIn
- Ella’s Kitchen’s “The Good Stuff We Do”
- Ella’s Kitchen B Corp Certification
- Eat, Play, Love Campaign Video
- Veg for Victory Campaign
- Paul Lindley on Purpose 360
- (00:00) – Welcome to Purpose 360
- (00:13) – Mark Cuddigan from Ella’s Kitchen
- (05:15) – Mark’s Background & Ella’s Kitchen
- (08:02) – Influenced by Kids
- (09:59) – What Is Weaning?
- (10:50) – Communicating Health
- (15:05) – Hearing From Parents
- (17:33) – Retaining Their Purpose After Acquisition
- (20:18) – Sustainability
- (21:30) – B-Corp Certification
- (25:49) – Maximizing Shareholder Return
- (27:08) – Advocacy
- (31:29) – Supply Chain Partners
- (36:17) – Balancing Sides of Your Purpose
- (39:15) – Eat Play Love
- (43:10) – It’s Not About Profits
- (45:33) – Autonomy
- (52:03) – Insights
- (53:28) – Last Thoughts
- (54:58) – Wrap Up
