Lingling Yu: ‘It’s very important to teach our children healthy eating habits’

Lingling Yu, the co-founder of instant smoothie brand Berry Flirt, has found that her kids are sometimes her harshest judges. Every smoothie created goes through their taste test first. To Yu, it’s one of the best ways to make a tasty smoothie ready for the public.

Being of Chinese and French nationality, Yu has spent most of her life moving around and living in different countries, learning different languages and absorbing different cultures. But she’d always wanted to set up her own business.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes...” she says. “Looking back, I think these experiences made me the person I am today.”

The person she is today is making and selling delicious, easy to carry and simple to prepare smoothies – a business which, she says, feels like her destiny.

We sat down to speak about launching a business in lockdown, coming up with smoothie ideas, and what cookbook she’d take to a desert island.

How did you get started on this journey?

I have always wanted to create my own business even when I was 20 years old, but I did not know how to start. I tried in my 30s, but I was not ready in my mindset. Then, being a parent to two small children, it was not easy concentrating on other things when they were still very young. I read start-up books as much as possible and took online courses on start-up creation, management and so on. I also tried a couple of other projects which ultimately didn’t work out, but the idea of freeze-dried smoothies was always in the back of my mind. Finally, my husband and I joined forces and decided it was time to make it happen.

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How was launching a new business during lockdown?

I see it as a time of my growth. It allowed me to crystallise my ideas and then concentrate on the most important things. It was a time when we could think about the project, try the recipes, and select the raw material manufacturers. Lockdown was the period when we took time to build our project without too much pressure.

What was the most important goal(s) when coming up with the smoothies?

The first priority of the Berry Flirt smoothie is to support women’s health. I know how much sacrifice women make for their family and children; I know there are so many women struggling between their kids, family and jobs and they put their own health last because of lack of time. I think that our smoothies can support them to have their daily five easily and eat more nutrient-dense food without complications.

Could the smoothies be incorporated into other recipes, such as overnight oats, drinks or healthy desserts?

Yes, you can add our smoothies to oats and soak them overnight, or add to natural yoghurt for breakfast, or you can freeze the smoothies and add some honey to make sorbets for summer. There are a lot of imaginative ways to explore them!

Each flavour has different benefits (ie gut health, skin radiance, mood boost, etc). How did you decide on these?

All our current five flavours – Harmony, Joy, Wisdom, Radiance and Passion – have these benefits, like detoxing, but not exactly the same. As our smoothies are high fibre, they all support gut health and also have individual benefits. I As our smoothies are high in fibre, they all support gut health and also have individual benefits. In Harmony, there is high-fibre beetroot; in Radiance, the goji berry is very rich in anti-oxidants and famous for skin radiance in Asia; in Wisdom, blueberry is considered brain food, good for focus, and in Harmony, ginger is a herbal remedy for motion sickness, digestive distress and nausea, and also found to improve blood circulation and energy levels . Curcumin, the superstar anti-inflammatory in turmeric has pain-relieving properties, and can also enhance athletic performance and muscle repair. Turmeric also has a powerful anti-oxidant effect. Since we put turmeric in Joy, I would recommend Joy for a post-workout smoothie to repair the muscles.

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What are the benefits of freezedrying?

Freeze drying is the best method to keep the essential natural ingredients of the food (better than air drying), as the fruits are picked at their peak ripeness, flash-frozen to lock in the nutrients, then gently dried under low pressure to evaporate the ice and preserve nutrition. Space food for astronauts is freeze dried, and freeze drying is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry to conserve delicate antibiotics and other fragile substances.

Do your kids enjoy the smoothies? Was there lots of taste-testing in your house before launch?

Yes we have tested a lot at home with our children and they love them – they have been harsh judges of our work! We have also involved friends and friends of friends and we have adapted our formulas accordingly. I noticed that children love smoothies in general, and it’s very important to teach our children healthy eating habits which will stay with them all their life, (our smoothies are low in sugar). Instead of sweets or biscuits for a snack, parents could give them some fruit or a healthy smoothie.

Onto solid food... what’s your favourite thing to eat with your family?

I am very veggie oriented, I have to have at least one or two veggies on my table, I do wok cuisine. As a family, we enjoy French cuisine, but I leave that to my French husband!

A fun one: you’re stranded on a desert island (which, for the sake of the question, has a fully stocked kitchen), what cookbook are you taking with you?

La cuisine facile by Anne Sophie Pic – I am sure I can get a lot of inspiration from her.