2 YEARS OF HEROIC DIPS! LET'S CELEBRATE!

2 years of Wonky dips

YAY! Exactly 2 years ago we launched our heroic Wonky dips!
Thanks to you, the Wonky Heroes, we are now rescuing vegetables faster than ever before!

Almost 10 000 kilos of rescued vegetables

In those two years we almost reached the gap of 10 000 kilos of rescued vegetables.
And this is thanks to YOU, the Wonky Heroes!
Without you this dream could’ve never been realized.
Without you ten thousands of kilos fresh vegetables would have been thrown away.
Food waste is a big problem worldwide and we managed to start the battle in Belgium.
Soon we will expand our mission to other countries in Europe as well, convincing more people to rescue vegetables together with us!!

2 Wonky years in a nutshell

How it all started off…

I can imagine you are wondering how we did this all together in only 2 years time.
I wonder sometimes… And it made me aware of the fact that lots of people are willing to contribute to the battle against food waste, as it has an enormous impact on the planet.

In a nutshell, I’ll tell you the story of Wonky, how it all started and where we are now…
The start of the journey was in April 2016, when I saw a documentary on food waste and the impact it has on the planet. I was astonished about the enormity of the fresh food that was going to waste. And especially those fresh fruits and vegetables! What a waste!!

I started talking about it to my friends & family, telling them I didn’t understand how nobody did something with those fresh vegetables that could otherwise go to waste. Pondering on the topic, I decided to really start doing something about it! The journey started off at my own kitchen, where I prepared fresh soups made of overstock vegetables from the local grocery store. Together with some friends I made lots of soup and sold them at a small price to people interested in the story behind the soup… the rescued vegetables. Looking back, these were the first Wonky Heroes!

A push in the back

That summer I joined a Startup Weekend, where I tested the business case even more.
We needed to rescue as much vegetables as possible, without losing track of the viability of the project. During that weekend the business case really took shape. It helped me a lot to sharpen the story, define the final product and tackle the financial plan.

The Startup Weekend

The first Wonky dips ever…

The next hurdle was to find a production partner, ‘cause I would definitely not keep on producing myself in my small kitchen. It was a big hurdle, knowing the sector works with minimum volumes. We needed a production company that really believed in our story and was willing to grow it together with us… And yes, we were lucky and found the right partner!

The launch

At that time I still had another full time job, focusing on Wonky only in the evenings and the weekend. Being on different food fairs, I realized conscious consumers were interested in the story behind Wonky. I realized there was a market for this, enough Wonky Heroes to rescue vegetables together with me. That was the moment I decided to put all my time in Wonky and become a full-time entrepreneur. It was September.

I wanted to launch Wonky dips on the 7th of December that same year. So it would be a rush!
The products, the brand name, the logo, the packaging, the branding,… I had to put everything in place during 2 months. These were hard times, but they were worth the effort! Because we managed to launch the first Wonky dips in specialty stores and throw an awesome launch party with friends, family, business partners and bloggers.

The Wonky Launch party

The Wonky Launch party

The first steps in the market

The launch party was over and now it was time to get the Wonky dips into stores.
We started with a bunch of enthusiast specialty stores, telling our story and helping us rescuing vegetables. Right after launch lots of people rescued vegetables together with us, it was wonderful to see how people believed in our story and loved our dips!

It was heavy, more than heavy. Due to hard work, stress and tiredness were hitting in. It was MY idea, MY business,… I had to manage it all by myself and it gave me a lot of stress. Because if it didn’t work out, it was my responsibility. Luckily I got lots of support during the first months: friends helping me on fairs, drove around with the Wonky dips to the stores, … THANKS A LOT! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE ;-)

The eye-opening moment

A rollercoaster, that’s how I can describe that first year…
From “Waw, this is an awesome idea!” to “It won’t work out, you know”.

Although there were a lot of Wonky Heroes telling me they believed in the concept, I felt that not everything had fallen into place yet. I had to change the packaging, the pricing, the sales channels, the products, … in order to attract more Wonky Heroes and increase the number of rescued vegetables.

The eye-opening moment for me was my participation in Leeuwenkuil, in July 2017.
3 extremely experienced entrepreneurs really believing in Wonky and the concept behind it, it was incredible. They gave me highly valuable advice on how to run the business and tackle the food waste problem even more… It was at that time I realized that I could be more ambitious, that I could look further and broaden the horizon for the Wonky concept. I could go to the retail market in Belgium & even international, if I only had enough resourced to tell the story…

Wonky in Leeuwenkuil

The Wonky (r)evolution

Leeuwenkuil made me realize I could be even more ambitious and try to tackle the (inter)national retail market to rescue more vegetables. And that’s what we did! Together with our partner in crime, Syros NV, that stood by our side since the beginning of the journey, we convinced the first Belgian retailer, Colruyt!

We managed to broaden the horizon and convince way more Wonky Heroes than ever before!
The number of rescued vegetables is increasing exponentially ever since… And we are so thankful for that!! Thankful to you, Wonky Heroes, to support us through this 2 years journey, to rescue vegetables together with us. Thankful to you, partners in crime, by making Wonky grow together with us, by making this dream turn into reality. Thankful to you, friends & family, for enduring my stressful moments and helping me out when needed. Without all of you, this never succeeded!

Wonky = YOU = Wonky Heroes = Wonky

You are Wonky, Wonky is you. Remember that!
It’s not just a product, it’s a movement. A movement of people who believe we can tackle the food waste issue alltogether, step by step!

We tackle the food waste issue one dip at the time!

Ready to rescue even more vegetables?
We are soooo close to 10 000 kilos, so we want to achieve it by the end of this year.
So start rescuing this christmas holidays… We have lots of inspiration on delicious recipes with Wonky.