Opinion: Yusuf Amanullah
Yusuf Amanullah, founder of Unconform, explains why taking on board Holland & Barrett’s frank advice and going back to the drawing board with his nootropics-powered coffee brand propelled it to new heights.
We first started working on the concept of a nootropics-based cold brew coffee back in November 2020. It was inspired by my own problems with coffees and energy drinks on the market that were jam-packed with sugar and synthetic nasties.
I remember in university I once had a double espresso can and I had to lie on the floor for about 30 minutes because I was struggling with so much anxiety. Fast-forward a few years and I found myself in a hardworking, ‘long hours’ career, constantly fighting this caffeine loop of needing more coffee to offset the crash of the previous coffee. It was horrific, so I took the decision to create something that worked for me.
It took us two years and 31 recipe iterations to come up with Version 1.0 of the product (we actually knew it as version 27D). I was proud of it and still am, because for someone who knew next to nothing about the food and beverage business, we actually created something in a time when establishing a new brand was far from easy.
In 2023, we had the opportunity to launch into Holland & Barrett (H&B), which for any wellness-focused brand is the ultimate seal of approval. Today I look back and am so grateful for the opportunity and time they afforded us, coupled with a deep-seated belief that we were on the same side, creating something genuinely game-changing.
I had two H&B stores near my work so everyday I’d go to each one and peek inside the fridges to see how we were doing. Every time I was proud and grateful to know we were there, but as Reid Hoffman said: “If you're not embarrassed by your first release, you've launched too late.” We knew from the feedback we received that people who tried the product loved it because it sought to tie in with their ethos of living a better, more health-conscious life.
That said, there were things that definitely needed improving! For one thing, having a single SKU on-shelf can be a high-risk strategy; there’s the ongoing risk of getting lost in a sea of shiny brands where one simple misplacement can result in your offering becoming invisible to the rest of the customers that walk in that day.
“That’s business and entrepreneurship for you; you simply have to pop your ego to one side and do what’s right for your customers.”
Looking back, it was clear that our recessive colours lacked pop and didn’t really shout proud from the shelves. Also, despite being very open and transparent about our ingredients on-pack, many consumers simply didn’t understand why they were in our coffee because our messaging lacked impact or cut-through.
This was the sort of honest direction that the H&B team was willing to share; they loved the product, understood that there was both a gap and a need for such a proposition but sensed that for various reasons our well-intentioned vision fell short.
So, in February 2024 we decided to take a leap of faith and listen to a supportive retailer with an unrivalled grasp of healthier living brands. We needed to move from a single-SKU business into a far-reaching range that appealed to a broader catchment of coffee enthusiasts.
We needed to revamp the brand, extend the offering to provide our customers with more choice, walk the talk with a proud, vibrant brand identity and tell people we existed!
It took us exactly 18 months from that moment to now, where we have our three coffees that will make their H&B debut at the beginning of 2026. At the time of writing we’ve also won our first industry award — further proof that taking a small step back to take on board our learnings before striding forwards was the right call.
Throughout this time H&B was by our side, interested in our learnings and the progress we’d made, fuelled by forthright advice and upfront insights. They gave us feedback that’s honest and actionable and we couldn’t be more thankful.
Going into this next chapter, I’m sure there will be things that we will need to improve on again. But that’s business and entrepreneurship for you; you simply have to pop your ego to one side and do what’s right for your customers. So far, the feedback has been incredible, people love the concept, the vibrant packaging and the breadth of choice.
More importantly, even though we initially thought we were going backwards by returning to ground zero, the reality is that the pace with which trends are moving, we remain very much at the cutting-edge, with growing numbers of coffee enthusiasts appreciating what we’re seeking to achieve.
I like to think of this stage as almost starting a new business, but with four years of experience under my belt. It was certainly painful to go through, but on reflection a much needed voyage of discovery.
By Yusuf Amanullah, Unconform