Alumnus James Frost (Economics, 2022) is the Founder and Managing Director of Flaming Phoenix, a start-up venture that he began during his time studying at Exeter, and which has created the Phoenix Bar – a unique, completely nourishing and sustainable food bar to be provided to those experiencing hunger, food insecurity or malnutrition globally. We recently caught up with James to find out more about where the idea came from and how the bar can help in the fight to tackle world hunger.
James came up with the idea for his start-up company ā Flaming Phoenix ā whilst studying at the University of Exeter and has always had a strong interest in entrepreneurship as well as an understanding of nutrition and interest in health and fitness from playing sport. At Exeter he split his time between his degree and beginning this venture and now, having graduated, is pursuing it full-time. He says: āmy degree has given me a really strong theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship so when I’ve encountered practical problems Iāve had the tools to be able to fix them, and I benefited from the experiences of lecturers across the Business School, who are generous with their time.ā
So, what is the Phoenix Bar and how did James come up with the idea?
James says: āIn 2020, I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed and came across a friend undertaking a charity challenge known as the āRation Challengeā. This involved people eating the same food rations provided to Syrian refugees in the UK for a week. I noticed the poor nutritional quality of the rations provided and this led me to investigate what types of food aid and rations were provided to people suffering from food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition globally.ā
Following this, he began researching the nutritional content of food aid and rations provided by aid agencies, charitable organisations and governments to those suffering from food insecurity and identified issues with several failing to meet the nutritional requirements established by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
James also discovered that within the current food aid and ration system problems can include: the food supplied not being sustainable or ethically sourced; not being culturally appropriate; creating a cycle of dependency; driving down local prices which negatively affects local producers; and being prone to supply-side shocks and logistical difficulties.
The massive problem of world hunger, which currently affects 2.37 billion people, or 1 in 3 individuals worldwide, continues to worsen despite more and more financing being provided to try to solve this calamity.
After some thought and, in response to the worsening hunger and nutrition crisis, James created the Phoenix Bar – a unique, completely nourishing and sustainable food bar to be provided to those experiencing hunger, food insecurity or malnutrition.
James says that the Phoenix bar is different to other products out there as āthe consumption of one bar provides a nutritionally balanced 525-calorie meal, and the daily consumption of four bars meets all of World Health Organisationās criteria for human nutrition, as well as solving the other issues caused by the current food aid and ration system.ā You can read all about its benefits on the Flaming Phoenix website.
In May 2022, Flaming Phoenix secured Ā£50,000 in philanthropic funding to finance the next stages of research and development (R&D). This R&D was been undertaken by an award-winning food-science and technology company, Reading Scientific Services Limited and has minimised the cost and weight of the Bar and optimised the shelf-life of the product, without compromising its nutritional value or sustainability.
The Flaming Phoenix company comprises a steering committee of 10 members who have contributed philanthropic funding towards the venture and are industry leaders in various sectors, with a proven track record in business. This committee is a valuable source of extensive business acumen, contacts, experience and guidance. The company also has a number of special advisors who have specific experience in the social, humanitarian aid and government sectors.
Speaking to James about what his hopes are for the venture he said: āTo be the worldās largest food ration provider to governments, aid agencies and charities, thereby significantly improving the quality of nutrition provided to millions of suffering people globally.ā We look forward to watching that journey unfold.
If youād like to find out more about the Phoenix Bar you can do via https://www.flaming-phoenix.co.uk/ which also lists Jamesā contact details.