What founder, Ella Mills, has learned after 10 years of deliciously el

This post is in paid partnership

It’s been a decade since Ella Mills started her plant-based recipe website, deliciouslyella.com. And what an incredible decade of plant-based inspiration that followed that day!

Being one of the brands first stockists (since 2016) and ongoing supporters of the deliciously ella brand, we asked Ella a few questions… with a surprising answer about her famous sweet potato brownies. Plus, we found out which product she is most proud of from the deliciously ella range (as it turns out, you can have favourites when you’re the founder!)

What is your biggest learning about plant-based diet in the last 10 years?

That it’s delicious. I know that sounds simple but ten years ago no one was even using the term plant-based, there were no plant-based cookbooks or websites and just a tiny fraction of the UK population were buying into this space, now it’s almost half the country.

I’m sure that’s because we’ve realised how delicious plant-based food can be, how much better it can make us feel, and how much better it is for the planet.

So much has changed in the last decade, but we want to know what hasn’t changed for you since starting deliciously ella?

The mission. Our purpose is rooted in a very personal story, as it all started from my own personal exploration of plant-based cooking as a tool for transforming my own health.

As I started to realise the power of our diet to change our wellbeing, I wanted to share that with others. That desire to be useful by sharing delicious ways to feel better remains the DNA of the company and guides all our decisions.

What has been the most satisfying memory so far in deliciously ella’s history?

It’s so hard to pick one! We have got a huge amount wrong, I’m sure we’ve made every founder mistake in the book, but I know there’s a lot to be proud of too.

Holding the very first copy of my first book was a life-changing moment, as was seeing our first products on shelf.

If you could give your 2012-self some advice today, what would it be?

That it’ll feel incredibly challenging – perhaps impossible – at points, there will be moments where you’ll think it’s all over, problems you don’t think you can solve and stress that feels it might truly overwhelm you.

Somehow, you’ll find a way through it all though, nothing will be as bad as it seems, so long as you keep putting one foot in front of another.

And just as nothing is as ever as bad as it seems, nothing is as good either – there are no silver bullets or magic wands, you’ve just got to keep going. Block by block, brick by brick you’ll build it.

Is there one recipe you still love from the early days of your Instagram account?

The most iconic original recipe was for our sweet potato brownies. I tried that original recipe the other day and honestly it was awful! So we put it back in the test kitchen and the new and improved version is delicious!

Which product are you most proud of within the deliciously ella range?

The chocolate – four ingredients, no emulsifiers, genuinely 100% natural. That’s incredibly rare (and incredibly difficult to do!)

What are you looking forward to in the next 10 years?

Hopefully a slightly better balance in my life, more time with my girls and an evolved version of the company that’s able to help millions more people.

Happy 10th anniversary, deliciously ella team! We can’t wait to see what you do next.