Truly (UK) Ltd stocks the biggest selection of sprinkles and inclusions in the country, all from their base near Ludlow.
Truly exports their products to 28 countries worldwide, as well as supplying most of the businesses that sell sprinkles here in the UK.
The business encompasses three sprinkle brands – the Twist Ingredients range for wholesale customers, the Scrumptious retail range, and a trademarked brand of mixed sprinkle blends – Sprinkletti.
Louise Gough and Niki Thompson are the hard-working sisters behind the successful brands. They have proved you can mix family with business, having built up Truly in to an internationally respected business.
Truly stocks over 1000 varieties of sprinkles and inclusions in every colour, shape, and combination imaginable. As well as a huge sprinkle and inclusion selection, they also stock toppers, lustres, glitter, cupcake cases, muffin tulips and packaging. Their pack sizes range from 700g to 25kg, so whether you are a home baker or a commercial bakery, they will have the sprinkle solution for you.
The business had humble beginnings. At the time Niki was working as a Director for a housing group and Louise ran a bakery and a catering business with her husband. It was at a trade show that Louise had her light bulb moment.
She said, “Truly was born out of my utter frustration at the limited choice and quantities on offer. I knew I couldn’t be the only baker to want to buy more than 50g of jelly diamonds from the supermarket or need less than a 300kg bulk order from a distributor. This was at a time when there was hardly any sprinkle varieties in the supermarket – not even a mini marshmallow in sight! My instinct was that I couldn’t be the only person feeling limited by what was available, and surely there was a way to give bakers more variety and more choice of quantities.” After discussions with Niki, she saw the opportunity too.
They started out with two shelves of sprinkles in the storeroom of their family bakery in 2010, Louise and Niki ran their new business around their full-time jobs and families, working evenings and any spare moment to get it off the ground.
Demand for their products meant it wasn’t long before they had outgrown the bakery, left their jobs, and moved into a small industrial unit in Ludlow. In 2018 they moved again into a new base near Ludlow, where they rapidly grew – extensively increasing their range. This year, they expanded again into new buildings in Ludlow, with 10,000 sq. ft. of space to fill with sprinkles, and a growing team.
Louise said, “We’ve been building to this point for some time so the expansion this year is a really exciting moment for the business. It has given us the opportunity to carry more stock, which is hugely important for our successful wholesale business – Twist Ingredients. We will be increasing our range and our general stock holding. This in turn will improve our production processes, provide us with more flexibility and pass on an even better service to our customers.”
Truly exports to 28 countries from France to Australia, and everywhere in between, including Hong Kong, Uganda, and Saudi Arabia. You can even find their sprinkles in Waitrose in the Middle East. They are the UK distributer for some of Europe’s most respected manufacturers – Hatziyiannakis, Sidilco and Zucceroo.
Famous bakers and influencers often use their products, including television cook and baker Juliet Sear, TV chef Rosemary Shrager and the highly popular vlogger, Zoella. Many of the sprinkles you see in shops such as Lakeland and Hobbycraft have been repacked from Truly’s ranges. In 2021 Ocado began selling lines from the Scrumptious retail range.
Their products are featured in every baking magazine, even stealing the cover of the Christmas issue of BBC Good Food magazine for the last two years running. Yet Louise and Niki are modest about their high profile popularity. Niki said, “We often shy away from shouting about where our products have been used because we’ve never needed to. We have found a way of fulfilling a gap in the market, and the products speak for themselves.
“Our aim has always been to make the widest selection of quality sprinkles available to the largest audience, in a range of sizes to suit everyone from pot to pallet – including home bakers, independent stores, high street shops, commercial bakeries, and industrial manufacturers. With our upcoming move, the sky is the limit on what we can do!
“We already stock over 1000 varieties of sprinkles – just think how many we will have by this time next year. Whatever our customers need, we want to provide the very best choice and service possible.”
There was good news for the business last year when they received SALSA accreditation – the robust food safety certification scheme that sets an industry wide standard. “We are proud to have earned this approval that shows our processes are of the highest quality. In addition, all of our European suppliers have either BRC or IFS accreditation as well,” said Louise.
Niki pinpoints one of their business highlights, revealing it was at their first trade show at Earl’s Court. “We had this small 3x3m stand and went in not really knowing what to expect. The reaction to our products was unbelievable – there was a rugby scrum of people around our table, wrestling over the products. We were stunned! It was an attestation of the hard work and decisions we had made to get to that point. Plus we met Mary Berry – it doesn’t get better than that!” Niki adds, “Having Rosemary Shrager hunt us down at shows because she adores our products is a real testament to our offering.”
On the other end of the scale, a business that imports from Europe has had Brexit to contend with, followed by the challenges of the pandemic, and supply chain issues.
Louise said, “Covid was challenging in terms of demand. The explosive trend of home baking changed everything. When the pandemic hit we thought we would have to lay everyone off, then we had the option to furlough, but demand was so high we needed to get people back on the production floor very quickly.
“The lockdowns cultured a real interest in home baking and supporting local, independent businesses. This meant that for businesses set-up for online shopping, Covid-19 has been a great time of growth. We enjoyed a sales increase of just under 60% in 2020 – much of which came through our website and Amazon sales. When taking in to account the downturn in high street sales, the online increase is considerably more than 60% in real terms.
“There is always something to deal with and a balance to strike, whether it is Brexit paperwork or supply chain issues out of our hands. Having the support of one another to come up with the best plan of action is key for us.”
Niki believes the growing pains of scaling up a small business is the biggest challenge they have ever faced. She said, “You have to balance suppliers, with a growing number of customers going on account, cash flow headaches and unsupportive banks. The last few years have been eye opening. Balancing cash flow, predicting demand, and being flexible to growth are huge challenges for small businesses as they upscale.”
So, can sisters work harmoniously? “We never got on so well as kids!” Louise said, “But working together is really plain sailing. Our differences actually compliment one another – we bring contrasting skills and knowledge to the table, and we balance each other. We have different pressure points so we’re good at keeping the other one calm during tougher moments!”
The future of Truly looks brighter than the colourful sprinkles they sell. They aim to achieve their FDA approval, which will mean they can sell in to the USA. They also plan to expand their European sales.
To learn more about Truly visit www.truly.uk.net