Ella Mills On The Evolution Of Deliciously Ella
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9 hours ago
The entrepreneur reflects on a decade in the wellness industry
Deliciously Ella started as a food blog before growing into a multi-million pound business. Ella Mills shares her founder journey with Ellie Smith
Interview: Deliciously Ella Founder Ella Mills On The
In 2012, a 21-year-old Ella Mills (née Woodward) sat down to write her first blog post: a recipe for sweet potato wedges with an avocado dip. Little did she know that was the beginning of the multi-million pound business, plant-based food brand Deliciously Ella.
Over the past 13 years, the company has grown to colossal success, launching an app, products and cookbooks, as well as garnering a devoted online community. Meanwhile, the wellness industry has exploded, yet the UK’s collective health has arguably never been worse. Nutrition is at the forefront of the national conversation, so why did Mills decide now was the right time to sell her business? And what’s her mission going forward?
How Did Deliciously Ella Begin?
Right from the get-go, Mills has been the face of the brand – and, indeed, the original poster girl for wellness. Yet Mills started Deliciously Ella after her health had hit rock bottom. During university, Mills became very unwell, and spent months in and out of hospital before eventually being diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, a condition that affects the autonomic nervous system. ‘It left me with a whole range of symptoms that meant I could barely get out of bed,’ she says. At one point, she adds, she was on 25 different medications a day, yet nothing was helping.
The turning point came when Mills dramatically changed her diet, moving towards a whole food, plant-based way of eating. She documented her journey online, and within two years her site had 120 million hits from readers all over the world. ‘Suddenly we had reached the mainstream, and I had approaches from people saying, “can we license the brand? Can we make this product for you? Can we put your name on this?” And I knew very quickly that our path had changed slightly, and this is where it all started. I didn’t want to use this platform to sell other people’s products.’ But how to scale the business while staying true to her values?
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Around this time, Mills met her now-husband, Matthew. It was a whirlwind romance: they moved in together after a week, and within the year they were married. Quickly, it became apparent that they had complementary work skills too. ‘My passion was the brand, the recipes, the concept, the community, and his was through the business lens.’ Matthew quit his job in finance and became CEO, and the couple built up the business together, while also growing their family (they have two girls, Skye, five, and May, four).
Of course, running a company with your husband is not without its challenges. As Mills says, ‘It’s very difficult to have boundaries and balance… you suck each other down into a hole when there’s something stressful going on.’ But the good certainly outweighs the bad. ‘I love it, it might not be for everyone but it’s been brilliant for us. We both love work… it’s not conventionally cool, but I think it’s realising that’s who you are and embracing that.’
Together, the couple have created a food empire: Deliciously Ella has sold more than 100 million products, and is now the UK’s fastest-growing snack bar brand. Yet Mills still finds the term entrepreneur ‘mildly uncomfortable’, something she attributes to the fact that she – like many women – started her business ‘accidentally’ to solve a personal problem. ‘I feel like growing up, all the entrepreneurs I’d heard of were a) men and b) people who were always brilliant. I absolutely didn’t have that, I was so extraordinarily average growing up… I didn’t excel at anything. I think as a result, the success of the business feels really at odds with how I saw myself as a person for decades.’
Ella’s Wellbeing Habits
Amid the busyness of navigating work and family life, Mills has some non-negotiables for wellbeing – but rather than ‘all or nothing thinking’ she emphasises consistency and simplicity. ‘For me, movement is key to my mental health, but I’ve let go of the idea that it needs to be a full workout every day. Some days it’s a 20-minute walk on my lunch break; other days it’s 10 minutes of at-home yoga or just walking them [her children] to school.’
And, like all successful entrepreneurs, Mills also swears by a morning routine: getting up a little ahead of her kids to make time for a quick meditation and a quiet coffee. ‘It’s not about doing something elaborate – it’s about creating space to breathe, reset, and feel just a little more grounded before the full-on juggle begins.’
In September 2024, it was announced that Deliciously Ella was being sold to Swiss food group Hero. ‘Selling the company was a huge decision and one we thought about very carefully,’ says Mills. ‘Deliciously Ella had been our whole world for ten years. But we’re incredibly proud of what we built. Our goal is to reach the masses though, and the new infrastructure, resources, and knowledge that we have as part of the Hero Group will help us take the brand to the next level.’
So what’s next? Well, Mills isn’t going anywhere. There are big plans for international expansion at Deliciously Ella. She and Matthew also own Plants and recently acquired plant-based meal brand allplants, which they’re currently integrating into their existing start-up.
Another big focus for Mills is her new podcast, The Wellness Scoop, which she hosts alongside nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert. It’s all about debunking fads – and this June, they’ll be hosting their first live event.
Ultimately, Mills’ goal is to bring some sanity back to the health space. When she started out, wellness was a somewhat niche concept, but now it feels like we’ve gone too far the other way, with wild new fads popping up every week. So what’s the answer? ‘The next step is simplifying things, helping people cut through the noise and focus on what actually works for them, in a way that feels realistic, supportive and sustainable.’ In a world filled with sensationalist advice, Mills’ approach feels refreshingly down-to-earth.
