The lockdown allowed for virtual catch-ups and meetings between female entrepreneurs Alison and Victoria. Their conversations evolved from updates on their individual businesses to the difficulties of maintaining a healthy lifestyle amidst a global pandemic, to eventually talks of starting a business together.

As both observed active lifestyles and low-carb and ketogenic diets, they have become strong critics of the comings and goings of various food products that aimed to appeal to specific lifestyles. Their market observations and further research has led them to build upon several things: (1) low-carb snacks offered usually overlook protein, (2) low-carb snacks offered are usually sweet with little to no savoury options. Being equipped with this knowledge, they launched sweet and savoury lines for healthier snacking with Eva Bold’s Keto Bars and Keto Bites.

It was essential to their partnership to not only provide where there was a need but also shatter societal expectations of female entrepreneurs. One thing that the pandemic highlighted is that there are many bold, creative, and female-led businesses in the industry, yet they struggle to break out of their local reach and scale out. This taught Alison and Victoria that they too shared the same passion and ability to produce a great product with these women but were signalled to take an even bigger and bolder step – start internationally rather than locally. Their first rollout of product packaging had both English and Arabic text to prepare for orders in the Middle Eastern market. In fact, one of their first-ever orders was for Qatar, before they sold to any UK retailer. What enabled them to spearhead a launch in this manner is by surrounding themselves with the helpful hands of men and women in the industry and personal lives.

International Women’s Month may be over for 2023, but female-led brands continue to lead the way for functional food brands. Gourmet Rebels proudly features one of our brand partners, Eva Bold. We stand behind Alison and Victoria and their exciting venture into launching their product in Hong Kong. If we could take away a lesson from Eva Bold’s story is that taking a risk should not only connote the possibility of failure but also the chance to make something worthwhile.