The brand hunch
Scaling a brand and retaining its roots: a Founder & Head of Marketing in conversation.
An interview with
Tushar Menon and Dee Wescombe
10
December 2024
•
min listen
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast, we dive into the fitness-fueling world of My Muscle Chef with Tushar Menon, Co-Founder and CEO, and Dee Wescombe, Head of Marketing. Tushar and his brother Nish launched MyMC in 2013, and it's been bulking ever since. Join us as we explore the mix of marketing science, creativity, and a hefty dose of hunches that keep My Muscle Chef thriving year after year.
Lindsay Rogers:
Hello, and welcome to the Brand Hunch podcast, where we explore ideas and hunches around how marketers are growing great brands. It's a look under the hood at how much is marketing science and how much has been built on a hunch.
In today's episode, I'm joined by Tushar Menon, co-founder and CEO at My Muscle Chef, along with his head of marketing, Dee Wescombe.
Tushar and his brother Nish launched My Muscle Chef in 2013, and it's gone from strength to strength ever since. I've been really fortunate to have been part of the journey since 2018, when Tushar and I met. We worked on the rebrand back then, and we've more recently worked together in 2023 and beyond. Welcome to the show.
Tushar Menon:
Thanks for having us.
Dee Wescombe:
Thank you very much.
Lindsay Rogers:
So firstly, Tushar, give us a bit of context. Give us a bit of background. How did the My Muscle Chef brand start?
Tushar Menon:
Sure. So the brand started in February 2013. I initially got the idea because I was doing meal prep myself for a very long time. I was really into my health and fitness at uni and when I was working full-time as well.
Surprisingly, back in 2012-2013, there was no one doing high-protein meals for people who went to the gym or played sports. It was pretty surprising. There were only weight-loss brands available at the time. So I started asking a few people in my office what they thought of the idea, and the overwhelming feedback was very positive.
I gave my brother a call, and he also, at the time, was looking to do his own thing. The timing worked out really well. So that's how we got the idea to actually start the business. But that was the easy part. We didn't know how to start the business, of course, because we hadn't had any experience running one before.
We probably spent about six months researching and trying to understand exactly what we were trying to build. After about six months of going back and forth, we said, "Okay, we need to give this a crack," and that’s how it started in a little kitchen in Potts Point in 2013.
When we first started, we did frozen meals. It was very much focused on hardcore gym junkies, and that worked really well for the first couple of years. Our form of marketing was sampling. We would go out to gyms a couple of days a week, set up sampling tables, give out meals, and put voucher codes on our website. That's how we kicked it off.
That worked pretty well for the first, I would say, five years of the business. We didn’t invest into our brand or marketing at all. It was all through word of mouth. Considering that it was a very new proposition at the time, that was good enough. And we also didn’t have the capital to really scale the business.
So that organic growth was what we needed at the time to really understand how to run the business. It was only in 2018 when, for the first time, my brother and I decided to take a step back and assess where we were. Around that time, we were generating, I would say, 15 to 20 million in revenue, which took us five years to get to.
The business was profitable; it was doing well. But we wanted to obviously take it to the next level. We decided to invest in some research just to understand who our customer is, not who we assumed they were. That was really our turning point.
That’s what really changed the My Muscle Chef story, to be honest. We realized that our brand could extend to a broader customer base, not just hardcore gym junkies. I remember doing focus groups and seeing customers come in, and it was not what I was expecting.
Six years later, we’ve had exponential growth because we finally got to understand who our customer is and tailored our brand and service accordingly. We moved from frozen to fresh, we launched into retail as well, and that, coupled with finally investing in marketing and brand, has resulted in the great growth we’ve had over the last six years.
Now I can confidently say we’re Australia’s leading functional food brand. We have over 7,000 stockists in the country. We touch half the marine households a year, so it’s a good space to be in at the moment.
Lindsay Rogers:
Yeah. Awesome. Dee, over to you. When did you become involved in the brand, and what kind of foundations did you enter with? What have you been involved with today?
Dee Wescombe:
I actually started with My Muscle Chef about two and a half years ago. I was brought into the business to set up a whole new project, which was a business venture for us at the time, really leaning into that weight-loss sector.
During that period, I very quickly started to wrap my head around how quickly the business was growing, the pace of the business. At that particular point in time, it felt like a big pivot from where the business had come from previously—more of a startup mentality—to starting to get more sophisticated with processes.
As part of that, we began thinking about the process of our brand and how we start to build that. What does it actually mean for us long term? There were a lot of opportunities for us at different points to stretch our brand into different spaces, hence the involvement in this weight-loss program.
At that particular time, we did try to stretch the brand into a different segment, which started to get a little further away from, I think, Tushar mentioned earlier, our core audience. It was a very interesting space with a lot of learnings.
I think today, where we are, is kind of going back to that original customer that helped Tushar find the brand in the first place.
Lindsay Rogers:
And Tushar, how have you managed to scale the brand origin? You know, obviously you and Nish started it yourselves. You were hand-delivering orders to customers and were really involved in every aspect from day one. How have you managed to grow the brand now to a totally different scale but still keep your same founder energy?
Tushar Menon:
For us, the biggest focus as we grew the brand was to double down on customer service and focus on our customer, ensuring we never compromised on quality. At the end of the day, if your product and service aren’t good, it doesn’t matter how much you invest into your brand—you aren’t going to get customer loyalty and repeat purchases.
We wanted to make sure that even as we scaled, our customers had no idea what was happening in the background. We might have been scrambling like crazy to make sure everything was perfect, but we never took our eyes off the prize in terms of quality.
We’re dealing with food at the end of the day, and people have an emotional connection with food. If they have one bad experience, they may never come back again. That’s actually what built the strength of our brand. The reason we have such loyal customers is that they trust our brand and the quality they get every time they interact with us.
Lindsay Rogers:
And Dee, what about from your perspective? How have you helped scale the brand while also keeping the DNA of the founders intact?
Dee Wescombe:
I think what’s really exciting for me is that I’ve had a bit of a change of role in the last 18 months. As part of that, I remember sitting down with Tushar and unpacking what’s next for the brand.
One of the things Tushar did, which was a milestone moment for me as a marketer, was give me a blank piece of paper. It was like, “We need to change up the way we are showing up as a brand.” The goal was to really pivot back to our original customer—the fit individuals.
It was a unique opportunity to go back to where it all started, to the roots of the brand. A big part of that is Tushar’s story as a founder and how the business was founded. There are so many similarities between his story and our fit individual audience.
Having someone like Tushar, who lives and breathes it every day and is so passionate about it, makes it easier. The energy is infectious. The direction we’ve landed on for the brand today has really set us up for long-term success.
I think that’s also kudos to the team at My Muscle Chef and partners like Chello. You guys nailed the brief. What’s exciting is that we’ve created a platform that allows us to stretch into other product segments and lean into more lifestyle connections with our audience.
Lindsay Rogers:
How would you define yourself as a marketer? What special sauce do you bring to the brand?
Dee Wescombe:
I’d like to think of myself as a creative marketer. I love being given challenging opportunities to do something different with the brand. That’s something I’ve done a few times in my career—working with brands that don’t necessarily have broad awareness and finding clever ways to tap into the market authentically.
It’s about creating that magic and excitement, but also layering it with a deeper strategy. That’s what I pride myself on—being able to deliver the unexpected in a way that resonates and creates lasting impact.
Lindsay Rogers:
That’s definitely the magic, right? Bringing that unexpected sparkle to the brand. I’ve seen it firsthand with the work you’ve done.
Tushar, I want to ask about the move from the black tray to the red tray, which, I’m guessing, was a bit of a hunch from your perspective. Tell me about that journey and how you got there.
Tushar Menon:
Sure. Last year, the biggest challenge for our brand was the number of copycats in the market, especially in the retail space. I had friends who would buy a competitor meal, take it home, and then message me saying they bought a My Muscle Chef meal. I’d have to tell them, “Mate, that’s not ours.”
Every retail store you walked into was a sea of sameness. When we first entered retail, our black tray with vacuum-sealed packaging was unique. It looked completely different. But within a couple of years, everyone copied the black tray and vacuum seal.
We’d already started the journey of updating our packaging, like the sleeves, but something wasn’t sitting right with me. I felt we needed to do something bold and distinctive to really stand out.
I remember Dee talking about owning the color red in our creative work, and something just clicked. I had this lightbulb moment: “Let’s do a red tray.” When I first told the team, the reaction wasn’t what I expected. Seeing the meals in a red tray after so long in black took some adjusting.
Internally, it was a bit of a 50-50 split on whether it was the right move. But credit to the team—they backed the decision, and we gave it 100 percent. In hindsight, it’s been the biggest decision we’ve made.
Even without the sleeve on the product, if someone is eating a meal in a workplace and you see the red tray, you instantly know it’s My Muscle Chef.
Lindsay Rogers:
That’s incredible. You saw an opportunity, trusted your instincts, and made a bold move. It’s paying off in spades.
When reflecting on your involvement with the brand since its inception, how much of it has been evidence-based versus relying on a hunch?
Tushar Menon:
I’d say it’s 50-50. It’s been a huge learning experience for me. I don’t have a marketing background. When we first launched, my understanding of branding was just having a logo on the pack and the website. That’s as far as it went.
We didn’t invest much into branding for the first few years. But after doing research and working with partners like Chello, I understood the importance of a strong brand.
For example, the initial rebrand from Muscle-y Chef to what we have now, paired with the out-of-home campaign, produced mind-blowing results. That was backed by customer research.
But I’ve also relied on my gut, like sticking with the My Muscle Chef name. There was so much equity in it that I couldn’t let go. It’s about finding the right balance between science and instinct.
Lindsay Rogers:
Absolutely. That balance is key, especially for a brand like My Muscle Chef. You’ve done a great job of staying distinctive while adapting to new insights.
Dee, what are your thoughts on this balance? How much of your role is driven by data versus intuition?
Dee Wescombe:
I’d say it’s similar—50-50. As a marketer, a lot of my creative thinking comes from a hunch, pushing boundaries, and doing something outside the norm. But it’s always grounded in insights and relevance to the consumer.
The science aspect is essential, especially in validating ideas and ensuring they align with the audience’s needs. That combination of creativity and strategy is what drives meaningful outcomes.
Lindsay Rogers:
I know something you’re thinking more about is the application of brand internally. How important is the employer brand and ensuring it resonates with internal stakeholders, not just external audiences?
Dee Wescombe:
It’s hugely important. Great brands aren’t just external-facing—they embody their values internally. It’s something we talk about a lot at My Muscle Chef.
We’ve done incredible work over the last six to seven months on the consumer side, focusing on how we show up as bold and distinctive. Now, we’re taking that same energy internally.
It’s about creating an experience for employees that aligns with the brand. Whether it’s through onboarding, offsite communication, or even the graphics on the walls, every touchpoint should feel connected to who we are as a brand.
It’s also about fostering a culture that reflects the brand’s DNA. Tushar always says, “Hustle with discipline,” and that spirit is ingrained in how we work.
Lindsay Rogers:
Tushar, have the values you started with remained the same, or have they evolved over time?
Tushar Menon:
Our core values have largely stayed the same, but we’ve made some tweaks as the business has scaled.
Early on, it was all about hustle—pure ambition without much discipline. That was fine for the startup phase, but as we grew, we needed to bring in more structure and focus. Over the last few years, we’ve found the right balance between entrepreneurial energy and disciplined execution.
One value that’s never changed is walking in our customers’ shoes. Every decision we make revolves around our customer. For example, our product development is entirely driven by customer feedback.
We send out surveys quarterly to understand what our customers want to see on the menu or in new products. That feedback directly shapes our NPD pipeline. It’s why we’ve seen such strong uptake on recent launches—they’re products our customers asked for.
Lindsay Rogers:
That customer-first approach clearly sets you apart. When it comes to innovation, how much of your product development is driven by customer feedback versus offering something they don’t yet know they want?
Tushar Menon:
It’s a bit of both. We validate new concepts with customer surveys, especially ideas they might not know they need yet. But there are times when the market isn’t ready for an idea, and we launch it anyway based on gut feel.
It’s about finding the right balance. Listening to customers ensures we meet their current needs, but following our instincts helps us stay ahead and lead the market.
Lindsay Rogers:
Tushar, I know you built a fit-for-purpose factory. What considerations went into the build, and how has it impacted the brand?
Tushar Menon:
The main focus was doubling down on quality. At our old facility, we reached a point where capacity was stretched, and quality could’ve been compromised. The new factory was built to ensure our success for the next 5-10 years.
It allows us to scale while maintaining the same high standards. How we cook the food mirrors how you’d cook at home—just on a larger scale. We’ve avoided excessive automation to preserve that home-cooked feel.
Our customers have an emotional connection to food, and maintaining that quality is essential to building trust and loyalty.
Lindsay Rogers:
That commitment to quality is evident in your customers’ loyalty. What’s a standout story from the last 10 years that highlights the importance of your brand in people’s lives?
Tushar Menon:
One story that comes to mind is from a focus group where a customer said they ate our chipotle chicken for lunch and dinner every day for three years. I was stunned!
It’s a testament to the trust and connection customers have with our brand. When people incorporate your product into their daily lives to that extent, it shows you’re doing something right.
Lindsay Rogers:
Dee, who’s a brand you admire and why?
Dee Wescombe:
KFC is a standout for me. They’ve stayed true to their identity, even when competitors were chasing health trends. They leaned into what they do best—fried chicken—and created memorable experiences that resonate with their audience.
For example, popping up at Australian Fashion Week with branded merch was so unexpected but brilliant. It’s that combination of authenticity and boldness that makes them great.
Lindsay Rogers:
Tushar, how about you?
Tushar Menon:
Nike is a favorite. Their aspirational tone always resonates with me. Every time I buy Nike gear, it feels like it’s going to improve my workout. That emotional connection is powerful.
Another is Ferrari. From a young age, when you think of a sports car, it’s red, and it’s a Ferrari. That emotional branding is something I’ve always admired.
Lindsay Rogers:
Incredible. You’ve both shared so many valuable insights. Thank you, Tushar and Dee, for taking the time to unpack the power of brand and share your journey with My Muscle Chef.
My main takeaway is how much mutual respect Tushar and Dee have for each other’s roles. Tushar’s passion for the brand is infectious, and Dee brings that creative spark to push boundaries. Together, they’ve built something truly special.