Background
Based in Cardiff, Immunobox was established by Marie Jezequel after years of struggling to find fresh and tasty sweet treats which met the dietary requirements of people with auto-immune conditions.
In 2015, Marie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and she found that her symptoms improved by modifying her diet to cut out all gluten, dairy, eggs and refined sugar.
So, Marie decided to set-up Immunobox and produce her own range of traybakes and desserts which are gluten free, vegan and contain only natural or unrefined sugars.
As a newcomer to the food manufacturing industry, Marie contacted ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre for support whilst she was in the process of establishing her business.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
The food safety experts at ZERO2FIVE provided Immunobox with support with the shelf life of her products, looking at the ingredients used, water activity to determine potential microorganism growth, and a schedule for sending samples to the laboratory for microbiological testing.
Support was also provided with calculating the theoretical nutritional content of the company’s product range as well as the legal requirements for product labelling, allergen control and a safe layout for the company’s production area.
Benefits of the support
As a result of the support from ZERO2FIVE, Immunobox secured a food hygiene rating of 5 from Environmental Health and successfully launched their range of products to market.
Immunobox now sells their sweet treats direct to customers via their website as well as at local events in Cardiff. In the warmer months, Immunobox also sells their products from their own coffee and cake bike, which can be found in parks around the city.
Marie Jezequel, Immunobox:
“ZERO2FIVE helped me hugely to understand a number of things when setting up my business, from a thorough market research exercise early on to technical requirements for my products and help with product analysis. It has been very valuable to work with the team, and I hope to continue working with them on future projects.
“ZERO2FIVE is a fantastic source of knowledge and practical help, and the members of staff I have dealt with have all been extremely helpful and friendly. I have always felt that communication was excellent and that my business needs were at the centre of the work undertaken by the team.”
