We have a turnover of 600, 000 as of June 2015, a 110 per cent increase on the previous year. With our extended distribution, turnover for the next year will hit 1m. I started off by importing 3, 000 units of product, and now we import 80, 000 units every six weeks. How hard and competitive the food industry is and how difficult it is to create a recognised food brand. I still would have done it though! The tougher something is, the more I want it! Business book: The only downside is the chicanery around declared weights (common to all konyaku noodle suppliers), which makes price comparison treacherous; as the noodles must be delivered in liquid, the drained weight vs full weight is rather important. Barenaked seems to be delivered in a minimum amount of liquid (good) but the drained weight is 350g, not the 380g claimed. He had a difficult pitch with Deborah Meaden and Kelly Hoppen opting out very early. After an emotional explanation of funding, Mendham received interesting offers from Duncan Bannatyne, Piers Linney, and Peter Jones. Description in one line: Innovative manufacturer of healthy, gluten-free, pasta, rice and ready meals

Appearing on BBC2 Dragons’ Den seeking investment after my wife's third miscarriage. It was terribly emotional but I needed to seek investment to help grow my business. What was your biggest business mistake? Although he admits to constantly working towards “world domination” with his business, the one thing Ross is most proud of is the birth of his son, Oliver-Jude. Bare Naked Foods is a brand of plant-based noodles, protein noodles, and rice that are low-carb, low-calorie, and have zero fat in them. They are also 100% vegan friendly. Barenaked Foods was founded in 2011 by Ross Mendham, who after years of dieting and worrying about the food he was eating, decided that ‘enough was enough.’ It was time to do something about it… After struggling with “always being on a diet”, I wanted to make it easier for people in a similar situation to lose weight without missing out on the food they like and love. There was a gap in the market and I thought I would be able to launch my new product and food brand.Help with cash flow, to give the business the financial boost it needed to help market my new product and brand. The biggest contribution though is the knowledge and experience they offer. But you do have to have the drive and self belief, as it gets harder the bigger you get. You have to be able to climb any obstacle that you come up against. Breaking into the multiple grocery market. Our first listing in the UK was in Morrisons. What numbers do you look at every day in your business? I had the idea for a low-carbohydrate pasta and rice in 2010. I didn’t have the guts to start the business because I was scared of failing.

These products are made from the konjac plant. Each serving (125g) of noodles or rice is only 15kcal! Each serving (125g) is only 22kcal! They also contain Glucomannan, which supposedly encourages weight loss.Set realistic goals and work hard to achieve each one. You are not a success because you have a great idea; even the best ideas fail because a founder has made a wrong decision. Be willing to learn, work hard and never give up. Entrepreneurs are so eager to succeed that they sometimes have unrealistic expectations. I ALWAYS see entrepreneurs overvalue their business. It happens in the Den all the time! You must also be willing to listen to advice. How will your market look in three years? I needed investment and exposure to help my business grow. Dragons’ Den is an amazing platform to help people with great ideas turn them into reality. All of the Dragons areextremely clever people with a wealth of experience. The hard work really starts when you get the investment. The biggest tip I have for people is to learn. Ross was given initial funding from his future father-in-law, to get the business started. He travelled to the Chamber of Commerce, in China, to find out more about noodle manufacture.

To find out more, Business Advice caught up with Mendham and asked him how Jones has contributed and what his tips for dealing with supermarkets are. I don’t have ANY regrets. Any decision I make I stand by. Even if I was wrong, I learn by it and it makes me a better businessman. What is the most common serious mistake you see entrepreneurs make? The language barrier was difficult but he knew that he had to find a factory which met UK food production standards. His patience paid off when he found the ideal place to produce his own style of konjac (or shirataki) noodles.We currently sell in Dubai. We are looking for distributors in the USA, Canada, and Europe. The world is our oyster. I always said after Dragons' Den that I wanted to take on the world! Describe your growth funding path: Getting your goods into a big supermarket can be transformational (5) What made you want to take part in Dragons? Den? Since I first featured on Dragons’ Den it’s been an emotional roller-coaster and as with any business, it’s been challenging to get to the top. Even when you get investment, success is not guaranteed. But with hard work, we have managed to take Barenaked Foods to where it is today. Bare Naked Foods specialises in low-carbohydrate, gluten-free noodles, pastas, rice and ready meals. He included a cooking demonstration of his noodles with the help of Dragon Kelly Hoppen which did not go as smoothly as he hoped.

It was my girlfriend (now wife) that gave me the confidence and courage to construct a business plan and seek investment to start Bare Naked Foods. I can remember the pep talk! She told me to stop moaning about my current job and either carry on doing it, or write a business plan and go and start-up the low-carb pasta business I kept talking about. Barenaked noodles and rice have also caught the attention of celebrities and influencers, who now enjoy them as part of a balanced/restricted diet or to aid their weight management plans. Bare Naked noodles are available to buy in Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, Sainsburys and many independent outlets www.barenakedfoods.co.uk.Sadly, after hours upon hours of trawling through the internet, searching supermarkets and health food shops, he had no success. However, after further research, he discovered konjac, a food crop grown across south-east Asia. Ross admits that he has always found weight loss ‘especially difficult’ due to his love of pasta and rice. He thought ‘there must be a low fat, low carbohydrate version of the foods that he craves and loves – especially pasta!’ Surrey-born, Delia Smith, is Norwich City Football Club's joint majority shareholder and is known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. Smith became famous by hosting a cookery television show Family Fare which ran between 1973 and 1975. Her first television appearances came in the early 1970s, as resident cook on BBC's Look East.