Name:
Giulia Berretti
Age:
35
Job title:
CEO and founder
Company and location:
Sunny & Luna, London
Education:
Fashion communication, University of Arts London
Favourite food/drink?
A: That’s a hard one – so many things. If you would ask me what I can eat every day of my life without getting bored, it would be pasta with tomato capers and lots of olive oil.
What inspired you to enter F&B?
A: I love food. My family has always worked in food and wine – I know, very Italian!
I grew up with a deep appreciation of food, how it is made and what amazing quality food looks like. My first ‘real’ job was in modelling, which I started when I was 16, and I was so shocked by the way my model friends viewed food. I saw such damaging attitudes towards food, especially carbs, which jarred so strongly with my own upbringing.
When I eventually got out of modelling and fashion, I was in Milan during lockdown and I started experimenting with incorporating vegetables into pasta dough. I wanted to find a way of making pasta feel more nutritious and balanced as a meal. My friends tried the first cauliflower gnocchi batches and loved it. When I couldn’t make it as fast as they wanted it, that’s when I thought perhaps this could be a real opportunity. And that was the very beginning of Sunny & Luna.
Now we have a five-strong range of quality Italian pastas, powered by vegetables. Our mission to get more people eating veggies in a convenient and delicious way is what now fuels us forwards.
Tell us about your role
A: Well, we are still a very small team, so my role is different every single day! Some days I am finance assistant, some days I am head of sales, or other days I am supply chain manager. Honestly though, I love being involved with all these areas of the business. While we are still growing, I want to be ‘hands on’ so I can feel the needs of the business.
We’ve started building an amazing team, so one day I’d love to focus on product development, which is what I really love. As an Italian, it’s the quality and taste of ingredients that gets me excited.
What does a typical day look like?
A: I think today is a great example of how varied a typical day can look. This morning, I went to a sampling session in-store, where I saw our sampling partners do an incredible job of getting people to try our gnocchi. Then I ran home to get on the phone with our logistics partner to nail down five different deliveries that had to happen this week, all with slightly different requirements and destinations.
At lunch, the team came over to taste some new products we are working on – watch this space. Then this afternoon, I’ve been sending invoices, replying to emails, working on budgeting, and now writing this! Don’t get me wrong, there are some days where it feels like admin is all I do, but days like today are the ones that feel most exciting for a challenger brand like Sunny & Luna.
How did you get to where you are today?
A: I’ve been lucky to be able to build the brand for the last three years with quite a lean team. We’ve utilised advisors and strategists, built a really strong community in F&B, kept our costs down and focussed on winning in retail.
For us, community is so important. Our customers, our investors, our network of likeminded brands – these have been our strongest asset. I take every learning opportunity I can and try not to get stuck in my own way of thinking. I have made plenty of mistakes (which have been the most valuable experiences, by the way!) but this connection to other people is the thing I am most proud of.
When you’re having a bad day, what cheers you up?
A: Going to the supermarket...I am totally serious. As soon as I go to a new place, I am desperate to check out the local shops. When I am in a bad mood, my husband says “why don’t you go to Whole Foods”.
Seeing new products on the shelves, exploring different cuisines and finding the very best vegetables to cook with, this is what makes me feel happy.
What’s your favourite part about the food sector?
A: The people, they are so passionate. We are all so obsessed with LinkedIn because we love to see each other win, we love seeing innovation, new products, new listings. It’s addictive.
If you could change one thing about the F&B sector what would it be?
A: I think fresh and frozen are becoming more and more interesting categories, but the reality is it’s still super hard for grocery buyers to find chilled space and for brands to find reliable supply chains.
I’d love to see more space – mentally and physically – being made for frozen products especially, and for consumers to get excited about new brands in the fridge/freezer aisles.
What’s next for you/what’s the dream?
A: The dream is to reimagine how people consume Italian food. Food that is truly convenient feels indulgent and can also nourish you as well as a home cooked meal. Sunny & Luna exists to make convenience food more nutritious and more real.
In practice, the next step is expanding our presence on supermarket shelves and getting more UK families eating Sunny & Luna for dinner.
