Off the back of winning Food and Drink Startup of the Year in the London regional final of the UK Startup Awards, and landing a listing with The Salad Project, we caught up with Ellie on how OOM went from a Lion's Mane obsession during lockdown to a brand with real momentum behind it.

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What is OOM and how did it all start?

"OOM really grew out of a shared obsession Will and I developed with Lion's Mane mushroom. We've always been big believers in natural approaches to wellbeing and how much what we eat and drink can impact how we feel. During Covid, with two very busy ADHD brains, we started taking Lion's Mane and quickly fell down the rabbit hole of functional mushrooms, adaptogens and nootropics.

Having lived in the States, I was already a huge functional drinks fan, so naturally the first thing I looked for was a drink. We wanted something caffeine-free, without artificial sweeteners, made with genuinely high-quality ingredients and, most importantly, that tasted amazing. We just couldn't find it.

With my background in hospitality and mixology, and Will's as a chef, we were never going to compromise on taste or the experience of actually enjoying the drink. So we started playing around with what our version could look and taste like.

As the idea developed, we kept coming back to how we actually wanted these drinks to fit into our own lives, and that naturally became Balance, Focus and Calm.”

How do you manage working full time and running a drinks business?

“I'm quite lucky that my job is still connected to the drinks and hospitality industry, so I've had a front-row seat to how people's drinking habits and expectations have changed over the years. It's definitely influenced how we've built and branded OOM, and it's also been amazing seeing OOM sell in occasions where you might not traditionally expect a functional drink.

As for managing both, honestly, it's a lot of jumping from one thing to another and trying to send the right email from the right email account! Having worked in hospitality, drinks and theatre for years, I'm pretty used to long days, strange hours and figuring things out as I go. I think my brain actually needs a little chaos to function.

I'm also incredibly lucky to be building OOM with my brother Will, who is working on OOM full-time. It means there's always someone pushing things forward when I'm at work, and we've become pretty good at dividing and conquering. It's such an amazing journey to be on together, and I genuinely wouldn't want to be building it with anyone else.

Going full-time with OOM will feel like an absolute dream. We're not quite there yet, but it's getting close!”

You launched into The Salad Project, a major chain that is growing like crazy, a huge growth point. How did you do it and what does the listing mean for you and the business?

“The Salad Project has been on our OOM "dream board" since day one, so getting the listing was a massive moment for us.

Getting there was a mixture of persistence and good timing. We'd been trying to get OOM in front of the team for a while, whether that was connecting with them, crossing paths at events or getting cans into their hands whenever we could. Eventually, the timing lined up and we got OOM into their HQ while they were looking at the drinks range. After that, there was a lot of refreshing and nervous waiting!

We've now launched OOM Focus across all 15 London locations, and seeing people actually buying it has been slightly surreal. On our second day, we were filming in one of the stores when the first three pick-up orders all came through with an OOM. We then got chatting to two customers nearby who had also just bought one. Those moments mean so much when you've built something from scratch.

We've admired The Salad Project and what they've built for a long time, so it feels like a really natural partnership. Their team have been incredibly supportive of OOM, and we can't wait to keep growing alongside them."

The non-alc and softs category is getting crowded. How does a challenger like OOM compete with much bigger players?

“We actually see being a challenger as a real advantage. Of course, we're never going to outspend the global brands, but we don't need to compete in the same way. Also the influx of functional drinks as a positive. It proves the demand is there, and we think it's only going to grow as people rethink their relationship with alcohol, caffeine and sugar, and expect more from what they drink.

Being small means we can get incredibly close to the people actually drinking and selling OOM. Will and I are still doing tastings, visiting stockists, answering DMs and having those conversations ourselves. You learn so much from that, and because we're independent, we can actually act on what we're hearing quickly.

It also gives us the freedom to take risks, try things and think differently about where OOM belongs. Whether that's on a restaurant menu, at a community event, alongside lunch or as the base of a great non-alcoholic serve, we're not tied to one traditional drinking occasion.

Community is a huge part of that too. Through events, tastings and collaborations, we can build genuine relationships with the people discovering OOM and make them feel part of the journey.

Drinking culture is changing incredibly quickly, and I think there's something really exciting about being a small independent brand while that's happening. We can stay close, move quickly and hopefully play a part in shaping what comes next.”

Where do you see OOM in the next 12-18 months?

“Hopefully in a lot more fridges!

Our first ever stockist was the little farm shop next to our parents' house in Kent, so seeing OOM now across all 15 Salad Project locations, in places like Daylesford Organic and in so many brilliant independents around the UK still feels slightly mad to us.

Over the next 12-18 months, we want to build on that momentum and make OOM much easier to find, whether you're grabbing lunch, in your local cafe or restaurant, or doing your weekly shop.

The bigger ambition is for Balance, Focus and Calm to become things people naturally associate with OOM. We really believe that the choices we make around what we eat and drink are increasingly driven by how they make us feel and what we want from them. That's why we've always tried to strip OOM back to something really simple and relatable, rather than expecting people to know the difference between every mushroom, adaptogen or nootropic.

We've got some really exciting partnerships coming up and lots we want to achieve, and we're having a lot of fun building it, and cant wait to see whats to come!

"We take that really seriously. Yes, we have a founder with a certain profile, but day to day we're a scrappy startup facing exactly the same challenges as any other scrappy startup out there. So when you get a win like this, you don't underestimate it, you take it seriously and you keep earning it. Getting on shelf is only the start of the process, the real work is making sure we do everything we can to drive rate of sale and prove we deserve to be there. It's genuinely an honour to be in that M&S stable, and we don't take that lightly."

Check out OOM: Website - LinkedIn - Instagram

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