New Wave alumni Tayla Ayshford has launched her first Botanic Hub at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Cancer Hospital, providing healthy, plant-based meals and snacks for time-pressed staff and visitors. It’s the first Hub of many.
Tayla has opted for a plant-based diet, and came up with the idea for Botanic Hub on a flight home from Melbourne. Besides a McDonald's salad, she had no food options.
“This got me thinking about gaining access to healthy plant-based meals that I can eat on-the-go, that are substantial, tasty, and readily available, without being frozen or needing to be heated,” said Tayla. “Given the environmental impacts of animal agriculture, if we can get one person to choose a plant-based meal once a day, then that’s also a great win, not only for the environment, but people’s health too.”
Indeed, the health benefits of Botanic Hub meals meant launching her first Hub at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse Cancer Hospital made sense.
“I’ve had such positive feedback from staff,” said Tayla. “They are excited to have access to affordable healthy meals. A huge bonus is the 24/7 access. In fact, I’m about to place another Hub in the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse that will also be accessible to patients and visitors too.”
Her Hubs already have regulars.
“The Hub allows me to see which items are being purchased in real time, live inventory updates and the ability to drop prices remotely that reflect in real time,” Tayla explained. “ In the first week, I sat in front of the Hub every day to demonstrate how the Hub worked, and what’s on offer.”
Her initial goal was for the Hub to reach 40 unassisted repeat transactions in a month.
“I exceeded this within three weeks!”
Chef-prepared meals made fresh
During lockdown, Tayla met the Head Chef of the Opera House. Together, they tested and tasted Botanic Hub recipes. She then converted her garage into a commercial kitchen, where her chef prepares Botanic Hub meals, bowled up in recyclable jars.
“I stock the Hub late on Sundays so it’s ready for staff at the start of the week, alongside home deliveries,” said Tayla. “With a focus on sustainability, a recycle station is placed at the Hub, this allows us to sterilise and re-use our jars, which improves efficiency and reduces waste, it has proven very successful in terms of returning jars.”
Resilience key to startups during pandemic
Tayla has big plans for Botanic Hub, and acknowledged that resilience is vital for founders to act and adapt quickly, particularly during a pandemic.
“Having the capacity to bounce back during difficult times, especially when starting a business in the middle of a pandemic, is key you need to keep pushing towards your goals, no matter the setback,” said Tayla.
Before starting a business, it’s easy to assume success is a straight line.
“It’s really not,” said Tayla. “There’s no rule book, so don’t compare your journey to another founder’s journey. There are too many factors that contribute to the success or failure of a business.”
In the next few years, Tayla hopes to grow the Botanic Hub product and the number of Hubs in hospitals, universities, and workplaces.
“My vision is to expand the product offering to more institutions, allowing greater access to plant-based meals. I hope to raise capital to expand our operations, graduate from my garage to a commercial kitchen, and scale.”