Born out of a frustration at the lack of lunchtime eating options, two friends Stephanie Johnson and Kristina Komlosiova decided to start making healthy food to be delivered across London.

With a collection taking you from breakfast to lunch, with afternoon snacks, Pollen + Grace only use natural ingredients and products are free from gluten, wheat, dairy and refined sugars.

I spoke to Stephanie, from Primrose Hill, to find out more…

Borehamwood Times:

What gave you the idea?

In 2014 I had started to develop food intolerances and had to completely change my whole diet. As someone who is completely food obsessed I became increasingly frustrated at the lack of tasty and accessible lunch options available for a wheat, gluten and dairy intolerance person living and working in London.

To ensure that I wasn’t going hungry or missing out on tasty and nutritious food, I headed to my kitchen and taught myself how to make my favourite dishes but ‘free from’ everything I couldn’t eat anymore.

That was the lightbulb moment for me - I wanted to make life easier for people who like me who had intolerances but didn’t have time to cook everything themselves, and it was here that Pollen + Grace was born.

What was the process to make the idea a reality?

We started small, in the only way that we could. I would cook from home with my mum, then get on my bike and cycle to the nearby offices to deliver their lunches. Mornings were spent handing out flyers by the tube, and evenings were spent on the website and social media.

The rest happened quite organically - after we moved into our first small kitchen in an army reserve centre and hired a part time chef and marketing assistant, it all started to slowly grow, with the idea to move into retail coming about six months later after demand from local fitness studios.

Tell me about your food

I’m passionate about food, this is what drives the new ideas which we are then able to work on and turn into new products for our customers. I like to balance flavour with texture – and as someone who understands food I know instinctively how the flavours and textures will fold together.

Our food is truly delicious and you can really trust that every dish has been made with love and will leave you feeling great. We make everything from scratch in our kitchen each day, and use only 100 per cent natural ingredients. Everything is free from gluten, wheat, dairy and refined sugars and approved by an in-house nutritionist.

How did you meet?

I moved to London in 2010 and worked a couple of jobs before settling as an event manager. This is where I met my now business partner Kris, as we both worked in the same department. We just loved working together - we got on very well and we were completely aligned and in sync.

After six months of working solo in the kitchen I knew that I missed working with Kris, so invited her to take a risk and join Pollen + Grace. Kris had just returned from a career sabbatical in Bali and jumped at the chance. Even now we don’t need to talk to communicate – we just get on with it and know how the other one works.

Each product is handmade before being delivered fresh to over 50 stores across London including Planet Organic, Harrods, Selfridges & Co, SOURCED market, Simply Fresh, PSYCLE and As Nature Intended. They also deliver straight to home or work Monday to Friday across zones one to three, with sweet treats available nationwide. For more info visit pollenandgrace.com