Interview with Lucy Bee

Tell us a bit about your business

Lucy Bee is a small family-run business. After its founder, Lucy, was diagnosed as a coeliac at 18months old her family was forced to look at labels and the foods they ate to ensure that she ate a wheat free diet. 

They were shocked at the amount of additives and preservatives in everyday foods and so embarked on a diet of natural, unprocessed foods to nourish the body, cooking from scratch with nutrient-dense ingredients as often as they possibly could. 

Then in 2007, as part of their quest, they were introduced to coconut oil and its benefits. The family wanted to share their new-found passion and set about sourcing an ethical, organic coconut oil at an affordable price. Lucy Bee Ltd was set up in 2012.

Since then, the company has expanded its range to include other natural, store cupboard ingredients, all with the same values of ethical sourcing, organic and Fair Trade, where possible.

As a company, it’s important for us to be Fair Trade. It’s second nature to us to insist on organic farming methods, have recyclable packaging and maintain ethical and sustainable processes to bring our products into homes.

Part of our team includes, Daisy, Lucy’s sister who is currently finalising her Masters degree in Public Health Nutrition and the rest of us are all enthusiastic supporters of eating as close to nature as possible. The main way we approach a healthy lifestyle is with products that are free from additives, coupled with a balance of daily exercise.

Why do you think you received our best buy label?

At Lucy Bee we really care about the food we eat and firmly believe we have a social responsibility to make sure that every hand involved in the production process of our products, is treated fairly:

What do you think is the most important aspect of Lucy Bee?

An awareness of and genuine desire to offer a premium quality, ethical service, which is evident in all that we do and is the main thread that runs through the foundation of our company. Whether this is our ingredients, the packaging, our social responsibility or our openness and honesty in all that we do. 

If you had to sum up the ethos of Lucy Bee in two sentences, what would they be?

Fair Trade, recycling and ethical and sustainable living are at the heart of everything that we do. We emphasise eating close to nature and adopting a healthy lifestyle, with balance being the key. 

Have you ever had to make business decision that challenged your ethical standpoint?

In an ideal world, the answer to this would be ‘Of course not!’ however the realities of business can offer certain challenges at times.

Part of our range of products now includes salts –Himalayan, Dead Sea and Epsom salts and we would like to purchase these as Fair Trade certified. Since this is not possible at the moment we ensure due diligence by confirmation from our producers that the salts are produced ethically. 

Where Can Consumers Find your Products?

Our coconut oil is available in three sizes: 300ml for £6, 500ml £9.95 and 1 litre £17.95.

Stockists include Sainbury’s, Booths, Whole Foods Market, Planet Organic, independent health stores plus numerous online retailers including Amazon.

We have a store locater on our website where customers can check which is their closest stockist simply by inputting their postcode: 

Any enquiries please email info@lucybee.com