Do you have a craving for trail mix, but you don’t like those pieces of dried fruit or that one weird exotic nut? When this sounds like a solution to a problem you have never thought about, then you’re in luck. Julia and Lilly, both fourth year IBM students, founded ‘Are U Nuts’, a company that sells (surprise) nuts, and focuses on sustainability.
Young legs know how to ride a bike the best
‘Hanze promotes entrepreneurship a lot. We were already thinking about starting our own company since our second year of IBM. And now, in our final year, Are U Nuts is finally here!’ Both ladies complement each other, when Julia stops, Lilly automatically continues. ‘Still, there’s a lot more to starting your own company than we thought. Sure, we learnt a lot at IBM, but there are so many things that you have to keep in mind, like how to deal with insurances and taxes. Also, doing administration is a thing. Once we had everything crossed out on our to-do list, there were ten more things to add the next day.’
Julia and Lilly worked hard for their company, and decided to do everything by themselves. ‘We made our own website, manage our own social media and even do all the deliveries.’ Both ladies carry out each delivery personally, by bike. Is this all manageable? ‘Yeah, it definitely is. At least, for now. We can do a lot of deliveries when biking to and from school, for example. We just leave a bit earlier, no problem.’
Healthy bite for the conscious consumer
When you order the nut mix, you can expect a bag of 200 grams, filled with five different ingredients. A small selection of the 25 ingredients that Are U Nuts offers: dried bananas, almonds, Brazilian nuts, papaya, shredded coconut and Sunflower seeds.
But why exactly did Lilly and Julia choose to start a nut mix company, of all things? ‘Well, we both like to snack, but in a healthy way. Still, we noticed that a lot of nut mixes out there contained ingredients we did not like. So, when we finished a bag, we always threw away some dried fruits or nuts that we didn’t like. We thought that was a shame, so that’s why we decided to just make our own nut mix company!’
For those of you that are thinking “huh, it is kinda weird to deliver a healthy snack, why not get it yourself, even healthier, right?” the ladies have an answer ready: ‘’We think sustainability is very important. So instead of letting our mixes be delivered by a van to your house, or a grocery store for that matter, we deliver it to your home. By bike, so it’s all green! We get our ingredients from local suppliers, use sustainable packaging and even do the packing ourselves. That way, every step in our supply chain is as green and sustainable as it can be!’
Getting nut mix without leaving your home
The trail mixes are being delivered starting this week, Friday 27 September. You can already place your order at www.areunuts.shop. And also: be a good student and arrange some discount for yourself. Get 15% off, follow the Instagram account @are.unuts for more information.
