The Person Who Was There at the Beginning
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Quick answer: Calon Tempeh began with a Teams call on 23 July 2025 with Hadi Brooks, a Lifestyle Business Adviser at Business Wales. Over the months that followed, her practical advice and introductions, including to ZERO2FIVE at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Cywain, helped me move from an idea to a trading food business. Our formal advisory support ended on 5 October 2026. |
There are some people who become part of your story without ever intending to.
They may not be there for every moment.
They may not see every late night, every batch of tempeh, every spreadsheet, every kitchen clean up or every moment when you wonder whether you are doing the right thing.
But they are there at the beginning.
They are there when the idea is still only an idea.
For Calon, one of those people is Hadi.
And on 5 October, our formal advisory support with Hadi officially came to an end.
It felt like quite a small date on the calendar.
But for me, it didn't feel small at all.
Wednesday, 23 July 2025
I still remember it.
Wednesday 23 July 2025.
11am.
A Microsoft Teams meeting with Hadi Brooks, Lifestyle Business Adviser.
At that point, Calon Tempeh was not the business it is today.
It was an idea I was trying to turn into something real.
I had plenty of questions.
There were things I didn't know.
There were things I didn't even know that I didn't know.
I was trying to understand where to begin, what needed to be done and how all the different pieces of starting a food business were supposed to fit together.
Looking back now, I find it quite moving to think about that first conversation.
Because the person sitting on that Teams call with an idea is still me.
But the business has changed so much.
And, in many ways, so have I.
From an idea to something real
Since that first conversation, so much has happened.
Calon became a registered business.
The products developed.
The website came together.
We worked through food safety and HACCP.
We received our food hygiene rating.
We worked with ZERO2FIVE at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
We produced our first batches.
We developed the packaging.
We took those first slightly nervous steps into selling.
And then came the moment I had been working towards for so long.
The first people stopping at the table.
The first conversations about tempeh.
The first customers.
The first sales.
I remember standing at that market and thinking about how far away it all seemed when Calon was just an idea.
And somewhere in that thought was a simple realisation:
We actually did it.
Not everything was perfect.
Far from it.
But Calon was no longer just something I was thinking about.
It was real.
The value of someone saying, “Have you thought about this?”
One of the things I've appreciated most about Hadi's support is that it was never simply about telling me what I wanted to hear.
The advice was practical.
It was honest.
And it encouraged me to think bigger while still keeping my feet on the ground.
There were times when I was looking at one particular problem and couldn't quite see beyond it.
Hadi had a way of helping me step back and look at the bigger picture.
Sometimes the advice was about something very practical.
Sometimes it was about what needed to happen next.
And sometimes it was simply that gentle push to think beyond what I initially believed was possible.
That kind of support is difficult to measure.
You don't always see its effect immediately.
But later, when you look back, you realise that some of those conversations changed the direction you took.
The doors she opened
Another thing I will always be grateful for is the doors Hadi helped open.
Through Business Wales, I was introduced to people, organisations and opportunities that became important parts of Calon's development.
ZERO2FIVE at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Cywain.
The wider Business Wales team.
Those connections led to guidance, seminars, conversations and opportunities that I would not necessarily have found on my own.
And that is one of the wonderful things about good business support.
Sometimes the most valuable thing isn't an answer.
It is knowing who to speak to next.
If you’re thinking of starting a food business in Wales
I can only tell you what happened for me, and your experience will depend on your own situation. But if you’re at the “I have an idea and no idea where to start” stage, my advice is to ask. Business Wales is the Welsh Government’s business support service, and talking to an adviser early gave me a map when I had none. Ask who else you should be speaking to. Ask about food safety before you think you need to. And write things down, because you’ll forget more than you expect.
A lot can happen in a year
When I think about that first Teams meeting, I sometimes wish I could go back and tell that version of myself what was coming.
I'd probably say:
Don't worry.
You're going to have a lot to learn.
There will be paperwork.
There will be food safety.
There will be HACCP.
There will be batches that don't quite behave.
There will be packaging decisions.
There will be markets.
There will be customers.
There will be moments when you wonder whether you are doing any of this right.
But keep going.
And perhaps I would also say:
One day, you'll be writing a thank you to the person who helped you take those first steps.
The strange feeling of saying goodbye
So when 5 October came around, it felt a little strange.
Not sad exactly.
More like the feeling you get when you finish one chapter of a book and realise you have to turn the page.
The formal support has come to an end.
But the journey hasn't.
In fact, Calon is only now beginning to move into the next stage.
We're moving from preparation into trading.
From testing into learning from real customers.
From an idea into a business that is finding its place.
And that makes me excited.
Because I know there is still so much ahead.
Thank you, Hadi
Hadi, thank you.
Thank you for that first Teams meeting on 23 July 2025.
Thank you for the conversations that followed.
Thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your honesty.
Thank you for encouraging me to think bigger.
Thank you for helping me see what needed to happen next when I wasn't always sure myself.
And thank you for the introductions, connections and opportunities that have helped Calon along the way.
Most of all, thank you for being there at the beginning.
When Calon was still an idea.
I don't think we always realise how important those early people are.
They may not see the finished picture.
They may only see the first sketch.
But sometimes, that is when their encouragement matters most.
The story isn't over
I hope this isn't really goodbye.
I'd very much like to keep you updated with how Calon develops.
There will be more markets.
More products.
More lessons.
More batches.
More customers discovering tempeh for the first time.
And, no doubt, more things we will learn along the way.
And I still hope we will have that coffee when you're next in Cardiff.
Perhaps one day, we'll sit down and look back at that first Teams meeting.
And I'll be able to say:
“Hadi, look how far Calon has come.”
For now, though, there is only one thing left to say.
Thank you.
Thank you for being part of the beginning of Calon.
Thank you for believing that an idea could become something real.
And thank you for helping me take the first few steps.
The journey continues.
Calon.
Protein with a place.