From finance to foraging: How Edinburgh-based Hugo Morrissey turned unwanted nettles into a unique drinks brand

In the latest edition of The Growth Journals, Hugo Morrissey tells me all about his journey from a career in finance to founding Nuisance Drinks, a new drinks brand based in Edinburgh that uses unwanted nettles as the base of its products.

Before we get into it, here’s a quick summary of my takeaways from the conversation with Hugo:

• Focus is vital — be clear on what your business’ vision is and what you want to achieve
• The story behind your brand and product is an incredibly powerful tool to get people bought into business
• At the beginning sacrificing profit for purchases is often a worthy investment
• Be creative at the start and explore lots of different options, from the product itself to routes to market to financing options

“You have to become a lot more creative starting your own business”

Why did you quit your job in finance to start up a nettle-based drinks business?

I was working in sales in asset management beforehand which ultimately meant selling a product (i.e. a fund) that was being controlled and run by other people (a fund manager and an analyst were choosing the stocks to invest in). And as a salesperson I found myself getting flack for not being able to sell a fund which ultimately I wasn’t in control of! I wanted to create a product myself where I was the master of my own destiny, where I had control over the product — whether it’s good or bad — and then ultimately the sales are down to me as well. So I took voluntary redundancy when the business I was working for got acquired and with this financial security I thought it was the right time for me to have a go. If it works it works and if not I feel as though I will have learnt more in my time doing this than I would if I had continued in my role. Things like marketing campaigns, company accounts, branding. I’d never need to use anything like that in my old job. You have to become a lot more creative starting your own business.

How did you come up with the idea for Nuisance drinks?

The nettle cordial was something that my mum used to make for me and my sisters when we were younger. And last year when I was thinking about what I could create to bring to market I considered elderflower but that had already been done. And then the nettle idea came to mind. So I started speaking to my mum about it and how she made it. Then I started playing around with the recipe, changing the quantities of sugar, nettles, citric acid, until I got to what I have now. So it was all inspired by my very clever mother!

You mentioned other cordials you were looking at like things like elderflower so what sort of target market are you trying to tap into with this nettle-based drink?

It’s changed a bit as we have gone along in response to the market and customers. Initially, maybe out of bias, I thought it would be towards 25–35 year olds, hipsters, kombucha lovers, etc. And I think we can definitely hit this type of market but I’m noticing the buyers are more 35–55 year olds so a bit older than I had originally thought. I guess at that age they have a bit more cash so are happy to put some money into a nice soft drink. I also initially thought about trying to get into cafes. But I realised that, from personal experience, when I go to a cafe I always grab a coffee and rarely buy a soft drink, so turnover in cafes is relatively low. I’ve started selling in fine dining restaurants in Edinburgh and lots of them have been really enjoying it. And I guess pleasingly for me, there’s a ban on alcohol in Edinburgh at the moment so it’s more appealing to these restaurants to have something a bit unique and different as a soft drink option. So I’m starting to focus a bit more on restaurants.

“It’s hard to not worry too much about profit in the early days but at the moment “liquid on the lips” is key”

Trying to build up traction to sell directly to your customers through your website is also a challenge for small businesses. I’m interested to know how you have gone about doing that so far?

It’s something I’ve been challenging myself with. Each day I’m looking at my traffic analytics, trying to make sure I beat the previous month. Instagram is great to get brand awareness but it generally just goes to your followers. I have been thinking about how I can get more people engaging with the business, understanding why it has come about and as a result hopefully there will be some sales as well. So I decided to put out my first blog piece on the website. It was classic clickbait! “Why I left a secure salary to start up my drink business” but it got people engaged. My website traffic is generally around 30 per day, and on the day I posted it went up to around 110 and the next day was over 100 again! Also doing offers is great. I did Sober October 25% off. It’s hard to not worry too much about profit in the early days but at the moment “liquid on the lips” is key. By doing some offers, it’s cutting my margins but at least it’s getting people buying and trying it.

It’s an interesting point as currently you need to buy a 12-pack when you buy directly from your website which might be a bit of an ask if you’ve never tried it before. How else are you getting ‘liquid on the lips’?

I was looking at selling a single bottle on my website for about £6 which would cover the postage and distribution. But because I am going to be moving to cans soon I’m probably going to hold off because I would need to invest in specific packaging for a single bottle. In my view, I’d be happy to pay £6 for something completely new that I’m intrigued by. It’s the same price as a beer in London. So I want to do it once it’s in a can. At least £6 versus £30 means it gives people a chance to try it.

“I spent hours foraging the nettles myself in the Scottish lowlands just outside of Edinburgh during lockdown”

And once you’ve got people trying it, how are you getting people to come back for more?

When you purchase you are offered a chance to sign up to marketing so that helps to get people onboarded. With all our direct customers I’ll add their emails to our marketing updates so they can become more engaged with the business. I also find that if I go and speak to an owner of a restaurant about my drink, tell them about how I spent hours foraging the nettles myself in the Scottish lowlands just outside of Edinburgh during lockdown, people become really engaged with the story. I think the more I can get this message out through marketing emails the more it can then translate into sales both directly and through retailers.

You are stocked in places near you in Edinburgh and you are also in some places in London and in the South West. How do you manage these stock levels without a wholesaler onboard?

It’s a tricky one. It’s part of the reason I am moving from bottles to cans. Because bottles are so heavy and they cost a lot to send so actually stocking in one or two places down south doesn’t really make me much money at all. But at the same time I did want to have at least a few options down south where people could go to try it if they wanted to. Ultimately I will need to get onboarded with some wholesalers that sell loads of drinks and coffee and food to cafes around the south west of England and they would do the distribution for me. But it’s also good to have some retailers on the books already as the wholesalers want to see that their customers are keen to stock the drink.

And the main reasons you are moving from glass to cans is around transportation cost and environment impact, is that right?

Yes that’s right. Although glass looks quite premium you see cans being used more and more. You can get wine and water in cans now! They are more environmentally friendly because they are easier and take less energy to recycle, and reduce fuel consumption as they are lighter. The other thing is couriers are a bloody nightmare and they have smashed so many glass bottles!

“The advice I often get from people who have started their own business is don’t try and run before you can walk”

I’m interested to hear about how you are thinking about extending your product range. As you could continue along the ‘nettle’ idea to create more nettle-based products or expand into other ingredients like elderflower, etc. What are your thoughts?

The advice I often get from people who have started their own business is don’t try and run before you can walk. Really understand where you want to go with the business, what you want to do and what you want to represent. It’s so easy to get sidetracked. And actually, aside from being a nightmare, lockdown has given me that time to create the focus and understand where I want to take the business. I want to try and produce a range of soft drinks and mixers that are inspired by the British countryside. Also Nuisance is a play on words as nettles are a nuisance by being a weed. That’s why bramble and dandelion burdock are probably next on my list as they fit this theme. Having said that, I’ve been given advice to make my next flavour something a bit more broad as nettles are quite niche!

Tell me a bit more about this new product that you are creating with the Scottish Rural College.

Yeh this is quite cool. There’s a grant that is awarded to Scottish businesses that are doing something innovative and unique in Scotland. It’s called the Innovation Voucher and to be eligible you need to work in collaboration with a Scottish university or college. I applied for it back in April with the Scottish Rural College. They have chefs and food and drinks consultants who can create products for businesses. Nettles are incredibly healthy, much healthier than most vegetables you come across, and yet people don’t really know that. So I thought it would be cool to make a nettle health shot, a bit like you get turmeric or ginger ones. It’s currently in development so hopefully I will be able to release that next year. It will be interesting to see how it goes as it might take off more than the soft drink and then maybe that’s the route I will go down!

So we’ve discussed the grant which is helping with the health shot development. I also noticed you did a Kickstarter campaign when you first launched, how did you find them in terms of raising finance?

A friend of mine actually gave me the idea to do the Kickstarter. I am quite cautious of annoying people on social media but I feel like when you are doing it to launch a business people get quite engaged and want to help. And it went really well. Quite a lot of the orders I get now are from people who did the Kickstarter campaign and really liked the drink. It’s a great way to advertise yourself and what you do as well as get people trying the product.

And at this stage are you looking to raise additional funding?

Yes, so now I am trying to raise £100k of investment. I’ve been reaching out to people on LinkedIn within the industry. It’s great to speak to them and get advice, but also it might be an opportunity to find an investor if they like what they see. It’s hard at the moment to grow a business without a bit of cash at the beginning. You’ve got to spend a lot on branding and marketing. Some London drinks businesses I spoke to spent between £30–50k on their brand. Luckily the branding experts I have been speaking to in Edinburgh are a fraction of the price! But it just shows how much you need to start. Then you have the distribution and warehousing costs, it all adds up hence why I am only really selling locally at the moment. So it would be great to get some investment to put into branding and marketing to get the the business out there.

“The one benefit of Covid is that it has given me some time to work out where I want to take the business”

I wanted to touch on Covid briefly because you obviously started your business in pretty turbulent times. What were the major impacts you saw from that as you were starting out?

Well, it did give me time to forage! I got my first 5,500 bottles delivered during lockdown but all the labels were illegible. So I couldn’t do anything until the new labels were designed and printed, which gave me some time to relax and equally stress massively! Then when I got the new labels I spent the majority of lockdown hand labelling 5,500 the bottles! It was nuts. Then when we came out of lockdown it was frustrating because loads of retailers weren’t sure how long they would be open for or they didn’t want to buy new stock, particularly something they had never stocked before. But now for about 2 months everything has had to shut by 6pm and nowhere is allowed to sell alcohol. This does help me as I sell a soft drink and people are meeting up during the day so tend to opt for a soft drink option. It’s interesting because I couldn’t compare my experience to before lockdown. But one benefit is that it has given me some time to work out where I want to take the business.

Now a final round of ‘quick fire’ questions! I want you to answer with the first thing that comes to mind….

Finance or foraging?

Foraging — I sort of have to say that don’t I!

Current song playing on your Spotify

Alexandra by Laura Marling — it’s a great song.

If you were a dog breed what would you be and why

Black lab because I’m getting one tomorrow! And because I’m fun and loving.

If you could eat only one cuisine for the rest of your life what would it be

Umm… I think I’d have to say Mexican.

If you want to learn more or try some of the delicious Nuisance drinks, check out the website or Instagram!

And check out my other interviews for The Growth Journals here!