SUPERFOOD DELIVERY SERVICE: TURNIP.CH
by Vivian Holding
When the owner of new superfoods office delivery service turnip.ch Melissa Renteria hands me a selection of her funny promotional postcards, this is the one that tickled me the most. Yes, we live in a cheese loving country, but who really wants a cheese sandwich for lunch? I thought things had moved on.
Our great Genevan superfoods hunt started a few months back and since then, we have been pleasantly surprised to have come across two great finds – firstly, Green Gorilla café/take-away and now turnip.ch – an office lunchtime delivery service. We’re so pleased to see young entrepreneurial spirited people filling the gap in the market and filling it (and us) with delicious, tasty and nutritious food.
SO WHY THE NAME TURNIP.CH?
Had to be the first question of course! When thinking up a name, Melissa played around with ones that contained the words super/fresh/green/healthy etc. She decided to go for the name turnip, as she felt it was a simple and memorable word – one that lends itself to a bit of word-play.
WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM?
Melissa, who was born in Bogota Colombia, has been living in Geneva for 5 years, with her husband. She has travelled extensively worldwide and was working in management consultancy in Geneva and struggled to find healthy and filling lunch options for her and her husband. Colleagues of her husband saw the fresh meals she prepared for him and offered to pay her to make the same for them. Already running a business based in Barcelona called Mafia Bags (manufacturers of products made from recycled sails – click here for further information), she decided back in January 2017 to set up a business in the food industry. The business was launched in April and has already seen a steady stream of new and very happy clients.
WHAT DO TURNIP.CH OFFER?
Superfood salads, hot meals, soups, desserts, juices and smoothies – all of which are not only rich in nutrients and super healthy for you, but are delicious too.
WHERE DOES MELISSA GET HER INSPIRATION FROM?
Travelling throughout the world, she has had the opportunity to try out food from all corners of the globe. Her greatest inspiration comes from trying out food in the States (New York and California) as well as Japan where the population eat one of the healthiest diets in the world. This is where her recent inspiration for turnip.ch’s Asian Chicken Salad came from.
WHAT HAS BEEN HER BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
Finding the right ingredients from the right suppliers (they use mainly Swiss producers where possible) first and foremost, as well as sourcing environmentally friendly packaging (their paper products are all recyclable and their salad bowls are made from bio plastics made from sugar cane – sourced from a German manufacturer). Their biggest and most recent challenge has come from her making the decision to leave Switzerland to join her husband in South America, where he has recently started a new job – a hard decision to make when the business is in its first year. Fortunately, with the help of business partner Hannah, as well as a new chef on board, she feels 100% confident the business will be in safe hands.
WHAT IS THEIR CLIENT PROFILE?
Businesspeople working for international companies and organisations are her main clients.
WHERE DO THEY DELIVER?
Turnip.ch cover the whole of Geneva – orders placed on their app or online ordering service before 11am will be delivered before 12.30pm. Deliveries are made on bike (for local deliveries from their Vesenaz location) or by car for further afield deliveries.
WHY NOT A FOODTRUCK/RESTAURANT?
It is something that was considered, but the high overheads involved in opening a restaurant meant the sums didn’t really add up. The idea of a foodtruck is still a possibility – so watch this space!
WHAT ARE THE NEW TRENDS IN SUPERFOODS?
Trends are changing constantly in the food industry. They have seen a huge rise in the use of superfood powders such as matcha, maca, acai and tocos to juices and smoothies. At turnip.ch, menus are updated seasonally and according to demand and not just ‘trend’ based.
WHERE DOES SHE LIKE TO EAT IN GENEVA?
Always intrigued to know where foodies like to eat, I ask her where her favourite restaurant is – Il Mirtillo in Vessy – it has to be the best Italian in town! I’ll put it on my ‘EAT OUT’ list.
