A bit about Bon Accord Drinks
We often have many of our customers tell us they are surprised that we are such a young brand - they tell us there is something incredibly traditional about our honey and our brand that makes it feel like we’ve been around for generations. Karen from Bon Accord often gets the same comment, but in her case it’s true. Bon Accord was a drinks company originally run by her grandfather and before that, her great grandfather. For years it lay dormant and it has only risen back into prominence since Karen’s take over in 2015. Along with her business partner Nathan she’s managed to rejuvenate the brand and bring the company back to life in a way that suits the consumers of today.
Bon accord is based in Edinburgh like The Scottish Bee Company, but it’s name is known all across Scotland and beyond. The business has been thriving, growing into a household name since it’s appearance on the shelves of Aldi.
I met Karen at a foods festival years ago and I love talking to her - in fact she was right at the top of my list when we started to talk about making a podcast. She perfectly epitomises the community values of the Food and Drinks industry (which we will talk about further in the podcast) - sharing knowledge, authenticity and a genuine support for one another.
Her experiences mirrors a lot of my own having encountered many of the issues I have working in our sector and navigating the pandemic. We discuss in detail the importance of marketing; how you can get everything right with a product, but if you don’t have the right branding and packaging that reflects the product, and - most importantly - people who specialise in marketing to take your idea and run with it, then you’ll go nowhere pretty fast.
We bond over all things Scottish as well as the pros and cons of running a heritage brand. She’s an all round pretty together person with some great nuggets of wisdom to share. Take a listen - I know you’re going to get something from what’s he has to say.
So have a listen (subscribe!!) and leave a comment - we’d love to know what you think of our chat!
Suz x
Know someone who might be perfect for or podcast? Drop us an email on vicki@scottishbeecompany.co.uk
Transcript
Suzie Millar 0:18
Hi everybody and welcome to this week's episode of Think outside your hive. Today's guest is Karen Knowles from Bon Accord Soft Drinks. Karen set up Bon Accord soft drinks in a really unusual way. It actually was originally her family's business, but it closed down, I think in the early 2000s. And she then resurrected it a few years later, and completely changed everything about it in terms of the branding and the recipes, but she did retain the name. What's so nice about the business is that she's managed to retain that feeling of it being a proud Scottish product, and yet it has completely new branding and a completely new recipe. And she's incredibly creative when it comes to showcasing all of her products. I met her a few years ago at Scotland Food and Drink and she's completely vivacious, she's friendly, she's engaging, she's smart, she works stupidly hard and I can't wait for you to hear my discussion with her. You'll hear from the conversation that this episode was recorded during COVID. And a lot of what she talks about is her adapting to COVID and how she's managed to navigate that kind of unknown. I find it really useful especially when dealing with my own business to pick up some tips from her. If you haven't listened to the end of this episode, you will hear that Karen has put together a discount for everybody that listened to this podcast. So listen to the end and you'll hear how to use that.
So Karen, thank you so much for coming on our podcast I'm really really grateful and I absolutely love your company and I really love the story behind it. I think everybody else will as well. Could you just tell us a little bit about it and how how you've come to set it up because I know that a lot of people certainly in Scotland to know the name Bon Accord soft drinks from years and years and years ago.
Karen Knowles 2:19
Yeah, sure. Hello I'm so delighted to be on your podcast Do we agree? Yeah, as I said like I want to call soft drinks. And yeah, our brand has a really lovely history that dates back to 1903 kind of set up by my great grandfather and and back then bahncard was delivering soft drinks direct to homes across Scotland and for about 100 years they really can sort of find a place in the hearts the nations like it was quite a lot of brand people do remember it and the family caused the business to run about the year 2000 and I've got a background in the food and drink industry and I but it's actually when I was pregnant back in like 2014 I kind of spotted a gap in the market for healthier natural more natural soft drinks and geared towards health conscious adult consumers that are people like myself, yourself, that enjoy drinking. I've been like oh I've always wanted to have my own business and this is like a really good opportunity and can see the market and then obviously having a young family meant that I could continue working but it would allow me to work in a way that suited me so yeah.
was kind of like jus like for the aftermarket and then obviously like having the having the business which I had always wanted to have.
Suzie Millar 3:36
Was it really easy just to set it back up again because obviously it'd been closed by them for 10 years?
Karen Knowles 3:43
Yeah, for 15 years. Yeah, it was pretty much like a dormant brand like the family closed it and then it just kind of went away basically. But yeah, in terms of like the setup process. Initially I had this idea I went off to university after school I always loved food but went off to university got a good degree from Glasgow uni. My dad's a farmer my mom's side the family had Bon Accord. It was like kind of in my blood obviously like oh I want to do something and couldn't drink and then I went off like during my summer turns at unis like work for commercial farming company. I work for a pea processing business and then most recently worked for the UK Florida seafood business and I was a Waitrose account manager there so I kind of had like that knowledge of like commercial rules and development and initially starting the project we'll be launching the business Bon accord I knew. I did a brewing and distilling course I just like phoned them up and was like, Oh, hey, I've got this idea for soft drinks. And, and they were like, Oh, that's great. We actually don't do soft drinks, but speak to this company and they can really help you. So I spoke to Interface and they hook up businesses with academic institutions and they've got a grant to work with average University in Dundee. And that sort of first point of like you going through the development looking at market trends being what sweeteners we could use that wasn't sugar so our drinks were all just organic coconut nature and real fruit juice so there's like no added sugars, no artificial sweeteners.
like plant the night
Suzie Millar 5:16
Because you were using honey right? But then you couldnt market to vegans yeh?
Karen Knowles 5:18
Yeah, yeah, I couldn't market it to vegans and I think like I think it's such a growing sector like people are very like, aware of veganism and especially a lot of our customers that we're targeting to our like our coffee shop dailies and things and it just it just meant it removed that barrier to say no, it was like okay, well we're all plant based as well. So we've actually been working during COVID and just started to launch the vegan plant based products onto the market now see like the sort of initial process of setting up the company and getting the recipes done getting all the rebranding done and then launching we officially launched the business in June 2016 at the Highland show, that was kind of our official launch date.
Suzie Millar 5:34
I didn't realize that so you just so you just set up a stall at the Highlights Show?
Karen Knowles 6:12
and then I'd like paid for my pitch like I do like nine months before we've already started I was going to be my business partner like me they really need to like make sure we've got stopped by June because I felt like secure this position in the fit hole. Luckily we did it was a bit kind of laughing than it things are but what was the response that highlights
Suzie Millar 6:35
Side note for anybody listening The Highland Show is a massive event in Scotland it lasts for three days?
Karen Knowles 6:42
to 4030 somebody
Suzie Millar 6:44
that's Thursday, isn't it?
Karen Knowles 6:45
That's right.
Suzie Millar 6:46
And people come from all over the country to go there as its farming based it's all about learning about the way that agriculture works I suppose in Scotland and you would have to pay to get a stall?
Karen Knowles 6:58
Yeah, yeah.
Suzie Millar 7:00
And what was the response then?
Karen Knowles 7:01
Because encodable
Yes, my business partner so I worked with Nathan. I work for young seafood and he was our development chef and I was in the commercial team and and I just told him about what he's doing and he's like oh, that's really interesting, he had wanted to set up a company and I have where he's from Cambridge so he has like no idea of like the history of Bon Accord. I was saying to him like oh this is like a thing in Scotland the people remember it and he was like, ok. he cant get over like the amount of people like legit everybody that it's just all Bon Accord, is this the old Bon Accord and yeah, it was it the response was just amazing. It was so so good. And we launched we got really good PR at the highland show getting interviewed for some local radio station. Yeah, it was great and also like a great great sounding board like are the products actually any good because I've linked them and but yeah, we were able Yeah, I think based on that event, we're like okay, that didn't have confidence that these are really great drinks and we're like stocking up the store every day and things so yeah, it was good
Suzie Millar 8:10
did you have all the product lines that you have now or have you added them in slowly?
Karen Knowles 8:15
you start with one lot we saw initially we had three products in the range which and we've now got 14 so we've like over the last five years ago go nuts and range for much much broader range so initially we had our rhubarb soda which continues to be our best selling product and we had a cloudy lemonade and a tonic water and I think at the time of the start the craft gin boom, always have a tonic water in the range and it meant to kind of speak to a lot of the Spirit brands about our tonic, also a lot of people that came to them and we've done a lot of changes over the years that obviously we didn't like tonic. So which which thing we didn't like Jen but actually we didn't like the tonic so having born a chord and being able to mix it the gin with the lemonade or the rhubarb soda was really really great for them so yeah we started off with three I think we started off with like 99,000 bottles produced and I was like looking just before the podcast started we've made like 1.4 million bottles. Yeah, I so crazy that has grown that much.
Suzie Millar 9:24
I bet you when you're making your 9000 bottles you just never would have seen that oh 4 million
Karen Knowles 9:31
Absolutely not. Yeah funny story my husband actually like obviously well I can think he wasn't joking but he's like you know when you get your millionth bottle I will buy you A nice diamond ring...I'm still waiting for my ring! Still look like you'll know yourself. Like when you see like your productions and she's saying and obviously like more customers are Taking your product on it doesn't give you a boost when you think when I like look back or notebooks and things and look back and I'm like Ah I've really come far because that like I don't know it just seems like such a long time ago I was doing all that stuff but
Suzie Millar 10:15
I love that you say that because that's exactly the thing that I did about a year ago as I sat down and went through my old to do list because I was having such panic about the fact that I was going to be there had a new list and it was like 20 pages long, I'm never going to be able to achieve this I'm never going to get anywhere and then I went and looked back at my old lists and I realized I'd achieved all of that and I remember thinking at the time when I wrote those lists I was never going to be able to achieve this so it's really nice to do that actually and work back and realize how far you've come because and then that gives you that boost to be able to think well I can definitely do that move again I like how am I going to tackle the thing with a tackle the left with just like break it down into manageable chunks?
Karen Knowles 10:55
Yeah, do a little bit every day is better than just doing nothing you know it'soverwhelming just just starting to do a wee bit of it and actually, it's probably a lot less scary when you just get going with it.
Suzie Millar 11:07
Yeah and because you've got two kids Yeah, so did you and you did this you set this up when you were pregnant. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Karen Knowles 11:15
That was like a time in my life and I was like I was like, I'd had my first little girl I was pregnant my second little girl I was working four days a week I was sitting up Bon Accord we were moving house I was doing this like and business accelerator program and like the evenings I'm like two weeks night it was just a really really like looking back I just don't know how I did it and yeah I just think it was it was crazy but actually will come pick up the reins and it's like oh like this is kind of I don't know it's got a nice sort of piece a nice patina to it and I like the girls are probably one of the primary three and I don't know I just feel like all that hard work that went into the beginning Yeah, it's a load for us lately moreI don't know just like better routine week to week
Suzie Millar 12:03
because that's what's gonna say do you work? Do you just work while the girls are at school?
Karen Knowles 12:07
So no, I would say they did like two long days of after school club here a couple of days a week and then I picked up a few other days and then obviously Edinburgh schools are half day Friday so Friday morning of like work and just getting organized for the weekend is it my to do list for the following week but I think that's how I keep on top of things is just being organized like you're saying for inviting like I'm like an avid much likemy husband a couple of years ago bought me a Christmas ticket It was like a book on lists. Like the benefits of I'm like you don't need to sell the benefits of like writing with me but yeah even like I've got my diary things I mean I like I just write even like like that for anything okay, I need to do this for the first week and then it's just keeping on top of things and that's the way yeah that's the way that works for me.
Suzie Millar 12:53
And with Bon Accord Where do you see it going so obviously you've grown it now it's in a lot of places and you just did out you just got into Aldi at the beginning of the year which was huge for you. What are you sort of focusing on moving forwards?
Karen Knowles 13:09
Yeah, I think like with COVID obviously that you you'll be the same with a lot of your hospitality customers and food service we were tracking so well before COVID are growing every month was great or not great you know, like as a growing company like it was like we're working towards that sort of like goal of just becoming like more sustainable and recruiting more people to part of the team and then March happened and literally just things fell off a cliff. We had to like pivot into online which I know we've kind of spoken about previously. And so we've had a website set up and it was something we were actually working on winter 2019 and we launched it February 2020 not obviously knowing that COVID just like oh this is something we need to have in our business is another channel and the times funny I've been making all this money on a web show and he was like well I think it's important because it could be a really strong channel for us and oh my goodness I'm so glad he was pushing ahead with that and just all purposes I was the one that was quite like well we follow our hospitality customers and we were just still rely on that channel. So I think him obviously having to pivot into online looking at more export customers. And as you said like that big retail so I think the goal for bon accord now is kind of, I guess just to spread our risk, a bit more amongst like online hospitality, export and then retail. We launched with 30 Co Op stores in Scotland last November yeah November time october november and then we also did the Aldi special buying that was our first night and celebrations and I think we're that was just in sort of provide a week and a half but we really support that a lot of marketing you know we did share with our social media today. You know, we see often all the take a picture and we'll share your post and we just didn't we started from paid advertising on our social media channels and really support listing and I was like felt really proud going into all day like seeing our products there you know it's like I've also I love like from here to felt like listening into other people's yeah like your product leader like that looks really great oh I've not seen that on here before and yeah it's nice to see I think for us as a business just kind of getting back on the after COVID and hopefully getting into more retail channels getting more export markets increasing our online sales I think just like a little bit of everything we're doing and growing on that it's kind of what what we're aiming to do
Suzie Millar 15:35
yeah i think that's that's the key isn't it because we were exactly the same you know, we you sort of realize that as soon as one area like retail goes you're still vulnerable whereas if you have multiple different channels for your sales one could probably go and you'd still be you'd still be okay yeah
Karen Knowles 15:57
like feel it and like you never you never like to like lose customers but yeah just it's just that spreading that risk and like you've been saying you know, you kind of grow your team and you're then responsible for like other people's life a thing you kind of you you want to be resilient against these like changes that will come your way in average Billy Yeah,
Suzie Millar 16:19
tell me a bit about your growing up then with Bon Accord obviously in the background because obviously it was a lot of your family were involved in bon accord softdrinks wasn't a great grandfather and then we'll uh, who was it was
Karen Knowles 16:32
my great grandfather's business and then my grandfather's generation is four boys and my grandfather family from our rules of nine because my grandfather stayed in our booth and then each the other few brothers went to Aberdeen, Inverness late and broth and they stay up there for years and the standards the company that's why we had all these you know, dashboards in which to market across Scotland and but my grand she's actually my husband my grandfather's not around anymore My grandpa he turned 90 just a couple of weeks ago and she still lived in our bro and I think just like we have lots of fond memories and yeah, I think like obviously the four boys and my grandfather's generation they were they were just a real fun bunch you know they were really great and my grandfather was such a hit but I remember going into like the factory in our booth and I was younger and the orange crates and getting to choose what I wanted and it was always It was like always at their highs and lows and our highs that were going up and yeah, it was really nice and I think like a sense of like photocard like we are like family even now although I'm not running the business like with my family. Like Nathan has become like part of a family like yeah, my grandma visited my grandma and like it was my mom and dad and I know his family and it's I don't know it's just that sort of like modern the family but be like even our team members you'll be like that with your team members like they do kind of become like your close. Yeah, things and so it's really yeah, it's nice to see I grew up on a card it was like it was just kind of all around and then yeah, I guess just doctoring that leader to dive in and was that weird? Um, I think it was it wasn't just like overnight it just causes that you take a larger leak and of course over time and and but yeah, but then I think there's like within Scotland there's so much like love for the brand. Again, people are like oh, that's like amazing story that and the brand story is so genuine and authentic. Like a lot of brands have literally like bite your right hand off to have that story to tell. Yeah,
Suzie Millar 18:31
yeah, absolutely. It's amazing that you can say this was my family's business for however many years everybody knows who it was. And but that you've totally taken on a completely different route. Yeah, what what's what's been the most important thing to you about the brand then?
Karen Knowles 18:48
Yeah, I think that was I think being in Scotland. I love that there's like modern and innovative slick ghosts couldn't guess the ones you like yourself like bonocore like other software people like rapscallion like love what they're doing and even guys still like love their you know it's like taking like a really like well known like Scottish product like bolts like my dad was awesome as far as I guess like for bonapartist is taking something and just like making it ever fake like taking like a soft drink and making it better making a little bit healthier making a bit better for you using good ingredients. And yeah, so I think that's probably part of the vision but that is part also we want to be like involved in social drink. That's an industry that acts in love. Like I've worked in it forever basically
Suzie Millar 19:42
Yeah, isn't it it's such a lovely interview to be part of so is everyone's so helpful. Everyone helps each other out.
Karen Knowles 19:49
Yeah, so love like it's like I think in our office that we share with them. The guys that had to sit down distillery and there's the rich market team that the guys paint your Thanks, john. And they set up this warm delivery service during lockdown, and they're there. And it's just a really lovely space and like, people do want to help out, you know, if I see something that I don't know, to sculpt and drink or go through just Spring Break news, I'm like, oh, Dan, this is happening or, you know, it's just like, really, like, collaborative, which I think not all industries are. But it's just that yeah, it's really nice when people do like, I think with you like, we'd be like, Oh, I thought that buyers details I'll share this and, like, be part of this group. didn't drink industry that like kind of helped each other out for like, last year for getting great Scottish brands out there.
Suzie Millar 20:35
Yeah, absolutely. And it's so nice that Scott and Finn drink actually they're, they're amazing
Karen Knowles 20:44
Yeah, I don't know. They're like a membership organization. Yes. That's like they're great for like lobbying government. And the insights they provide are really great. And ya know, they're working part of their organization. Yeah, yeah. Else
Suzie Millar 20:58
And so what do you think that in that case, has been your biggest challenge? From throughout this entire five years? Five years? Yeah. for failure, challenge or failure?
Karen Knowles 21:15
I think for any new brand, it's like getting the brass getting the name back out there. And working on that band awareness of like, this is the new bonocore This is what our drinks are no. Shoot, yeah, just like showing people getting people to try the drink. So they love them. I think that's been quite a challenge. Yeah, I guess it's like getting in touch with buyers, knowing picture, getting your proposition right in your face and raising your promotional strategy, right? Those are all challenges and failures. I've tried to like, Don't try to not viewed life as like, we're like, Okay, well, I've learned from that lesson. Yeah, lesson. And I think back when we first launched in 2016, I think our packaging up back then was like, I guess we're still trying to figure out who we were as a company. And looking back the packaging that we didn't speak to who we were. So I think in terms like marketing, for me, that seemed like a key like, thing to learn about getting like putting yourself in, like the consumer shoes. Like, why would you pick up on cord over chemical, you know, it's like just kind of getting go, thinking about the marketing part of the business and putting yourself in the consumers? feet, which is I think one of the things that I've definitely had to learn.
Suzie Millar 22:36
Yeah, I 100% thing backs. I think that marketing and branding comes so far down the list of what our priorities when they're setting up a business, and yet, it's the only reason that somebody is going to pick up you're product. All over someone else. yeah. And you sort of think like, I don't really, I don't really need a branding expert, or I don't really need an expert, but you do cuz it's so hard to do that as well. And it's also really hard to work out why people are going to pick up your jar because you're so invested in that jar, you know,
Unknown Speaker 23:13
hey, you know, you know, the contents are great, but why? Why is it going to make someone pick up that bottle or that jar or that orange bar, whatever it is you hate the thing that's sitting next to the market leader? Yes, I am. Yes, this is like a mark we've actually taken on a marketing manager. But we kind of brought someone in that's quite senior that has had quite a big agency experience and big brand experience because I think that was like quite a gaping hole in my knowledge. And Nathan's knowledge was like, that dark art of like marketing, and what what he's done, basically. And like, she's, she's amazing, I think, I don't know if he's famous like that can be like the downfall that you spend all this money to do this really great work in this great project. And then it just sits there because there's no one to actually take it and run with it with any great like activating all the work we've done.
Suzie Millar 24:06
Yeah. So we've we've just had that situation where we have spent a lot of money on photography. And the photography is absolutely amazing. But suddenly, we're like, oh, why isn't Why isn't it being used and then realized, I hadn't put it in the right drive. So the staff didn't know that it was there. They thought it was in a different drive. Just like these things that just happen, don't they? And you think oh my goodness, it's so so easy for that to happen unless you've got somebody that's actually in charge of.
Karen Knowles 24:34
Yeah, yeah.
Suzie Millar 24:40
So a question I tend to ask on this podcast, because I'm really interested about it. And it's the way that I sort of think about life is who's in your hive. And what I mean by that is, who do you find inspiring that might be somebody that you maybe work with, you know, already a fictional character or even somebody that isn't fictional but that you just don't know.
Karen Knowles 25:00
Yeah I think for me I don't have like one person that I'm like
Suzie Millar 25:03
I don't either so that's where
Karen Knowles 25:05
I was like oh I don't know just one hour a day and it's funny I had chats with my husband and I think like you I don't think one person can be your everything in life either like I obviously made things that like my husband can't get being is like the joy I get from going out with my girlfriends for like lunch on the south yeah you know it's like or the relationship I have with like my mom and my sisters you know it's just kind of like no one person can give you all of that so i think i think it's quite interesting See I first and foremost obviously it's like my husband my children my my family is like my mom and my sisters and my nieces and my new little nephew and you know older people like just bring you a lot of joy in life Absolutely. And then your close girlfriends and yeah I think like they are like an ear my highs and then like my work highs is also like Nathan and Janie and Susan who I work with and we had like faces in poll the other day just last night and I'm yesterday afternoon and it just felt like the energize after class and sort of people like I'm like oh I love this and we like came up with all these like ideas for marketing I was like yeah, like this is great. And so yeah, I think like different different people for different times of the day Monday to Friday and then the weekend and then yeah I guess I guess like other female business owners and leaders so I like full like delicious with ala on Instagram I think that her journeys been really like amazing from where they started to where they are now just in terms of the product mean she'd go like just there kind of ethos and like I kind of feel like I've been on that journey with the other people that I like look up to like business owners I've mentioned like Stoltz everyone's Tony Tony the owner of those very few here it's just like their journey from being like no porridge bar ban selling porridge at the Edinburgh farmers market with sassy to no being like all the major markets, the UK and the export and yeah, just think like business journeys like that I just find quite inspiring and I hope to hopefully emulate in some part in the years to come.
Suzie Millar 27:20
Yeah, and it's really nice that you've got that around you to keep you going and keep you inspired. Isn't it to see if they've done that and they're only like two or three years ahead of me or whatever
Karen Knowles 27:30
Yeah, you're Hi.
Suzie Millar 27:33
Oh my goodness. So obviously aside from friends and family etc I have people like Brene Brown Do you know Brene Brown? like she wrote the gift of vulnerability or the gift of imperfection and power of vulnerability I completely love her she's she does Oprah shows quite a lot. Oprah maybe be one Dax Shepard, have you heard his podcast so he's really inspiring just very real and talks about life and asks people to come on who have experience of totally different parts of of the world which I always find really inspiring and and then I the people that we work with our investors are because they're a lot of them are very interested in the environment and making sure that you do good by the environment and everything I find them really inspiring to work with because they just keep you kind of focus because that's what I wanted to do. So it's been really nice that we have people working with us that force us to continue to do what we wanted to do and don't don't stop doing that so and then same as you I just really love connecting with people like yourself and there's a couple of other people I've interviewed already and that you that run businesses and just sort of think of that's amazing that you've done that especially when you hear stories of Yeah, I started when I was pregnant with my second child and all that kind of stuff it's just really nice to be able to chat to people like that
Karen Knowles 29:00
I know Yeah, like I love using but like podcast I like love a podcast. I've listened like Jesse weird or mom I haven't seen that one really good and they have their thing called like table manners and they get guests on and I love like heating I just like little snippets into other people's lives learning about new things like you're like yeah, I don't know I just it's a really good one. It's a very light hearted bond and it Yeah, it's fun to listen to that one. I've got one for you actually. There's one I need to start listening to but in fact meant to be called squiggly careers. And it was you know just like what like how to increase your energy at work or like designing quickly careers is basically as in like squiggly line Yeah, great. Yeah, there's like no, no line and you know, no career path is just straight those lines like I feel like people can have I love that. That thing is like no wrong path, but you can, you know, muddle through and get there in the end. But yeah, so have a listen. I downloaded a couple that I've got on my list with If I had been recommended to me I'm sure you enjoy them too
Suzie Millar 30:03
yeah I would definitely love them that's amazing what do you do to reset so obviously you're a busy woman you've got your two kids you've got your husband and you've got your house to run and you've got your business to run What do you do for fun?
Karen Knowles 30:16
Well I think I don't try and have like I guess was like reset I don't try and let everything build up and be like oh my goodness I need time off so I think like probably COVID speed good for this is like trying to try to find the joy in every day like every day I get up and do like a half hour session in yoga. And I do with them yoga teacher in North Eric completely Wakefield and she's amazing I like love her yeah just like the everyday like before we had this chat I like made a nice coffee and then we've got into like buying like artisan different artisan roasters you know from across like a and trying to coffee and I like I love that and make feel like that little tip morning and not going out and spending concrete on a coffee on byleth coffees have been
Suzie Millar 31:04
so good that you do that because unfortunately I do that with brownies
I've got one from mibiz Bay case one I see one there six in the packet and I'm pretty much guarantee they're gonna be gone within like 24 hours so good
Karen Knowles 31:20
but yeah other things but in terms of like just tasting just like making sure I walk every day Yeah. Well I'm Monday to pay you to get to bed round about half a plane every night and like eating well I think during lockdown I had probably more time to be a bit more organized with food. My kids have gotten really into it and my little girl is probably one she's a viewer like feeler like loves like the feel of like sand or mud or grass and her toes love loving both in the kitchen. Yeah, she's great and she's like we made the I mean we had like a Japanese tonight and I did like sushi with them but we also made like some katsu and I discovered that she thinks cat's chicken is like beautiful I think I'm like what's the rice and the chicken and the curry sauce. But actually what she loves is just the breaded chicken she like loves it she gets the egg and the flour and the bread comes in she takes the all in is really messy but she just loves to see I think like I find that it's so enjoyable yeah it's a joy to see your kids be into something that like you're into yeah
Suzie Millar 32:25
definitely put up some time during the day we need to do
Karen Knowles 32:35
another like making the McCain's special lockdown making canteen separate to the week so yeah on a Saturday to filming but it's like well that's not on at the moment so let's do something fun let's go for a bike ride or a hill Walker and get back on a sassy and you know if they're we came this afternoon quite often like to say to them well you guys can watch a movie tonight and have like a little date night Saturday. So kinda like just you know, doing those little things that make the weekend feel a little bit special as well. And not just like every game much one.
Suzie Millar 33:04
I know because there was that tendency wasn't there in lockdown, where you're just suddenly like, Oh, it's Saturday. A great Saturday. Really excited Saturday. Oh, Saturday is the same as Wednesday. There wasn't any. You do have to actively make that distinction do and then. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It's been absolutely lovely to chat to you. And I really hope that bahncard goes from strength to strength over the course of the next little while. I'm sure it will because it's a great brand. And I know it's so nice to have a chat. Today's show was produced by Victoria Gimby and music by Alex Fernandez and Victoria Gimby.
Thanks so much to Karen for coming on our podcast. She has decided to give everybody 10% off any products purchased on her website. Her website is www.bonaccordsoftdrinks.com and you can use the code BEE10 for 10% off.
