How do you discover a new food category?
Every founder has their story. For some it begins with a family recipe, others with a gap spotted on a supermarket shelf. But for Alex Epstein—founder of Messy Face, a clean label spread made from grape molasses and sesame tahini—the journey was a bit different.
Life Before Messy Face
Before Messy Face was born, Alex had already lived several entrepreneurial lives: two software exits, an appearance on The Apprentice, a failed haircare brand, and a decade spent helping build a business from a broom cupboard to a £300m sale.
Hardly the usual route to launching a food brand! But it was a chance encounter in a Turkish deli in Utrecht that set everything in motion.
Bringing a new taste to the UK food market
Messy Face wasn’t born from a business plan. It was born from a moment of taste driven curiosity – the kind that stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder why something so delicious doesn’t already exist back home.
The Aha Moment: A Turkish Deli in the Netherlands
Alex’s “aha” moment happened in a small, deli in Utrecht, where he first tasted grape molasses mixed with tahini—a staple in parts of the Middle East, but virtually unknown in the UK. It was rich, indulgent, yet healthy. It was unlike anything he’d ever tasted and it was where Messy Face all began.
The Reality of Creating Something Truly New
Launching a new product is one thing but launching a new category is something else entirely. In the podcast, Alex speaks candidly about the challenges:
Learning From the Past
Alex’s time on The Apprentice gave him something unexpected: a front row seat to his own behaviour. Watching himself back on TV became a crash course in self awareness—and a reminder that confidence and clarity are skills, not traits.
His software career taught him something else: that success doesn’t always feel like success. Being made redundant from a £300m business was, he says, one of the happiest days of his life. It gave him the space and the hunger to build something that felt meaningful.
Validating the Vision Before Spending Serious Money
Before committing to manufacturing runs, branding, or listings, Alex was committed to consumer research – something that so many brands overlook as an expensive non-essential step. It’s so important when creating a new category – you need to know whether people actually understand, want, and will buy what is being created.
It was this research that gave him the confidence to move forward. Not because everyone loved it, but because enough people did.
Getting the Word Out
Messy Face is still a young business, and still learning how to adapt to the UK palate without losing its essence.
Alex isn’t chasing mass distribution – at least not initially. He’s looking for education and trial.
And that’s what makes his story so compelling: it’s not about overnight success. It’s about deliberate, thoughtful, sometimes uncomfortable progress.
Why Stories Like Alex’s Matter
At Relish, we meet founders at every stage – from the light bulb moment, to the first listing to the first national retailer. But the ones who create something genuinely new? They’re few and far between.
They’re the ones who:
Alex Epstein is one of those founders. Messy Face is one of those brands.
