Speaker Q&A: Helen Harrison, Crussh – Fit Food & Juice Bars
Meet Helen Harrison, brand director at Crussh. Since joining the healthy food and juice bar chain in 2016 (following senior marketing roles at Sainsbury’s and EAT), she’s helped promote its successful expansion across London. And, thanks to franchise deals with SSP Group and Sodexo, there’s plans to open 30+ more outlets across the UK and Ireland in the coming years.
Helen will be appearing in lunch!’s opening day food-to-go marketers panel session (aka lunch! X The Supersonic Food Marketing Podcast panel), hosted by Mark McCulloch and featuring Katie Lister from Chilango and Fatima Diez (formerly of Five Guys and Burger King).
Which food-to-go operators do you particularly admire and why?
LEON for their beautiful store design and their ability to make fast-food that little bit healthier.
What do you think is the key for operators to successfully compete against their competitors?
Having a clear USP, sticking to it and trying not to be all things to all people. If you’re consistently focused on what you’re good at, people keep coming back.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Being able to have a genuine impact on people’s health and wellbeing every day. It’s brilliant when we hear stories of people who have discovered our brand and as a result, have changed the way they eat. It doesn’t get much better than that!
And the most challenging?
Currently, packaging and waste solutions. It’s a hugely complex area and consumers can be very quick to jump on brands because they see plastic in their stores for example. Sometimes they don’t realise that we’re trying our best to find better solutions, but the solutions aren’t necessarily out there yet, or some of the more ‘sustainable’ solutions aren’t actually any better for the environment long term.
What does the next 12 months have in store for Crussh?
We’ll be opening more stores within Universities and Healthcare.
Can you give us an example of what your business is doing to be even more sustainable?
So much! We’re currently working on new in-store recycling schemes, we’ve introduced compostable cutlery, and we’re working on new solutions for coffee cups, as well as numerous other food lines…it’s a huge workstream and every NPD line that we now bring in must launch in a more sustainable packaging format that the product that’s de-listing.
What do you see as the key food-to-go trends to watch?
Sustainably packaged food, more functional foods like gut-friendly and protein-based products and CBD – we launched it as a booster to add to coffee, juice and smoothies back in May.
What’s your current bestselling product?
Our Protein Boost Salad box – chicken, salmon, egg, avocado, chia seeds & spinach. Extremely simple but highly functional with 38 grams of protein.
What innovative products are you hoping to find at lunch! show this year?
I’m keen to see what people are doing with CBD oil, and how they’re marketing it.
How important is lunch! to the food-to-go sector?
It’s the only show I make sure I attend every year! It’s a great place to meet other people within the industry, and a place to really group together to help improve and grow our industry.
Describe the lunch! show in 3 words:
Insightful, innovative, lively.
What do you want visitors to take away from your session at the show?
Something useful and inspiring…who knows where the panel will lead us!
Who or what inspires you to be even better?
Other businesses! It’s great to take inspiration from others whether they are a small UK start up or a large US juice bar, there’s so much to learn from all those around us.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Trust your gut – it’s almost always right.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?
Do your research and identify what makes you different – you need a clear USP to survive this industry…it’s certainly not always easy! And be prepared to work for every penny, there’s so much choice out there now you can’t just open your doors and just expect people to come in!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that most people don’t know:
I spent my first 11 years growing up in Holland & the Middle East…without a TV! So I’ve never see all those famous kid’s programmes everyone in their 30s talk about.
See Helen at lunch! 2019
lunch! X The Supersonic Food Marketing Podcast Panel: 11.15am on Thursday 19 September in Keynote Theatre 1
- Helen Harrison, Brand Director, Crussh
- Katie Lister, marketing director at Chilango
- Fátima Diez, Brand Manager, Picnic: the sociable media company (former international brand and comms manager at Five Guys)
- Mark McCulloch, Founder, Supersonic Inc (session chair)
