Building a plant-based ready meal brand in the UK: STOKED!
Case study: consultancy-led brand development, UK route to market and distributor engagement
Overview: from concept to retail-ready brand
Gourmet Partners began working with STOKED! at a formative stage of the brand’s development, supporting the journey from early-stage product concept to a fully launched, retail-ready food brand positioned for UK growth.
Unlike a traditional sales-led market entry, this partnership began with strategic consultancy. Our focus was to build the commercial foundations required for successful UK retail distribution — aligning pricing, positioning, branding and packaging with the realities of the UK independent and speciality food sector.
This case study demonstrates how Gourmet Partners supports emerging food brands before listings begin — combining strategic insight with hands-on route-to-market execution.
The challenge: transforming a product idea into a scalable retail brand
When STOKED! engaged Gourmet Partners, the brand was still in development. While the plant-based ready meal proposition was strong, several critical elements required refinement before the brand could successfully enter UK retail.
Key challenges included:
- A partially developed product range requiring commercial structure
- Pricing misaligned with UK retail margin expectations
- Branding and packaging not yet reflecting the strength of the product
- Unclear positioning within the competitive plant-based ready meals category
- Limited distributor and retailer feedback
The priority was not immediate listings — it was building the right foundations for sustainable UK market entry.
Our approach: strategic consultancy before sales activation
Gourmet Partners worked closely with the founders to provide structured consultancy across:
- UK pricing architecture and margin modelling
- Route-to-market planning for independent and speciality retailers
- Product range clarity and category positioning
- Brand positioning within plant-based, organic and clean-label sectors
- Early introductions to key distributors and buyers to gather commercial feedback
By engaging buyers and distributors at an early stage, we were able to refine packaging, pricing and messaging before full launch — reducing risk and improving retail readiness.
Strengthening brand identity and packaging
We advised STOKED! on the importance of investing early in strong brand and packaging design to compete effectively within UK speciality and premium retail.
On our recommendation, the founders partnered with Koop Design, a UK creative agency specialising in food and drink branding and packaging design, who developed a bold and distinctive brand identity.
The result was a packaging system that clearly communicates quality, flavour and category positioning — enabling stronger shelf presence and buyer confidence.
This ensured the brand was not only visually compelling but also commercially positioned for success in the UK food retail market.
From strategy to shelf: in-market brand support
With the brand and packaging in place, Gourmet Partners transitioned from consultancy into active market development.
Through our Brand Builders programme, our Brand Support Managers are now:
- Presenting and sampling STOKED! products in-store
- Building relationships with independent retailers, farm shops and delis
- Gathering real-time feedback on pricing, flavour profiles and packaging
- Supporting retailers to generate repeat orders
- Refining the sales narrative based on market response
Current activation is focused across South West London, Scotland and the North of England — building early traction ahead of wider UK distribution.
“STOKED! began working with Gourmet Partners in 2025 with a half-finished product range and no prior experience of retail.
From the outset, Gourmet Partners provided invaluable guidance — from industry insight and branding expertise to pricing, sales channel strategy, and access to key contacts. Their support helped transform our initial products into a fully formed brand that has now successfully launched.
Through their Brand Builders programme, we continue to work closely with the team to build brand awareness within the independent speciality food retail sector.
Even at this early stage, Gourmet Partners have already presented STOKED! to multiple distributors and buyers, resulting in early listing opportunities.
If you have a product you want to see on retail shelves, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend working with Gourmet Partners.”
James & Iszy, Stoked!
Building the UK route to market: distributor negotiations
We are currently in active negotiations with two major UK food distributors, with the objective of securing formal distribution partnerships by March 2026.
These negotiations are supported by:
- A clearly defined brand proposition
- Evidence from in-market sampling and retailer engagement
- A commercially robust pricing and margin structure
- A product range structured for scalability
This structured approach ensures that once distribution is secured, the brand is fully prepared to perform in the UK retail market.
The result: a brand positioned for sustainable UK growth
Today, STOKED! is:
- A fully launched, retail-ready plant-based ready meal brand
- Equipped with strong, commercially aligned packaging and positioning
- Actively building awareness through sampling and retailer engagement
- In advanced negotiations with national UK distributors
- Structured for scalable growth across independent and speciality retail
The brand now has the strategic foundations, market insight and route-to-market structure required for long-term UK expansion.
Why this case study matters for emerging food brands
This case study highlights Gourmet Partners’ ability to:
- Support early-stage food brands preparing for UK market entry
- Provide strategic consultancy beyond traditional sales representation
- Shape pricing, positioning and commercial foundations
- Reduce risk before distribution begins
- Combine strategy with on-the-ground retail execution
- Build credible UK distributor partnerships
Not every food brand journey begins with listings.
The most sustainable UK market entry strategies begin with clarity, structure and the right commercial partner.
Mash testimonial
“Four years prior to the launch of Stoked, I met with James and Izsy to give them a comprehensive overview of how the UK speciality food sector operates. These sessions provided them with a solid foundation of industry knowledge and a clear roadmap for what would be required and the capital needed to transform their pop-up catering concept into an ambient, tinned ready meal — and ultimately secure listings with distributors and retailers nationwide” MASH CHILES (MD)