From a garage in London to a King's Award in Kent

Ten years of turning a simple question into something extraordinary.

---

It started with a snack

When Nimisha Raja founded Nim's, the question wasn't about sustainability. It was about snacks.

She was looking for something genuinely natural — no additives, no preservatives, nothing she couldn't recognise — and she couldn't find it. So she started making it herself. In her kitchen. Then her garage. Then a small production unit in London.

The idea was simple: take whole fruit and vegetables, remove the water through air-drying, and you're left with something that tastes exactly as nature intended. Pure. Concentrated. Real.

What she didn't know then was that she was creating a category.

---

Building something no one had done before

Air-dried fruit crisps weren't a thing in the UK when Nim's launched. Nimisha had to explain the product to everyone — buyers, journalists, distributors, customers. What is it? Is it healthy? How do you eat it?

The answers were always the same. It's fruit. It's vegetables. It's one ingredient. You eat it like a crisp, use it like a garnish, add it to your cooking. It's just food — done properly.

Slowly, the market caught up. And then the world noticed.

A New York Times feature. A Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation in 2020. Multiple Great Taste Awards. Food Manufacture Excellence Awards. Recognition as one of the Top 100 Manufacturers in the UK — and one of just 20 Sustainability Exemplars — at The Manufacturer Awards.

In 2023, Nimisha received an MBE in King Charles' inaugural Birthday Honours List for services to the food industry. The same year, Nim's received a King's Award for Enterprise.

---

Moving to Kent — and growing up

Nim's is now based in Sittingbourne, in the heart of Kent — the Garden of England. The factory runs 800 tonnes of production annually, holds BRC AA accreditation, and operates a 100% allergen-free production facility.

The team supplies cocktail garnishes to bars and restaurants across the UK, ingredients and powders to foodservice kitchens, snacks to retailers, and provides white label manufacturing for some of the UK's best-known brands.

Current customers include Pret a Manger, Zizzi, Wagamama, British Airways, Eurostar, and the NHS.

---

The sustainability story — zero food waste, for real

As the business grew, something unexpected happened. Farmers started getting in touch.

They had surplus produce — crops that were the wrong shape, the wrong size, or simply too abundant for the fresh market to absorb. They were being ploughed back into the ground or sent to waste. Could Nim's do something with it?

The answer was yes. And it changed everything.

Nim's now partners directly with British farmers to process their surplus harvests. Around 60% of what the factory processes comes from farms right here in Kent. The rest is sourced from trusted international partners.

Nim's also works with FareShare — the UK's largest food redistribution charity — as a last-line-of-defence processing partner. When FareShare is offered surplus produce they cannot redistribute (because of volume, logistics, refrigeration constraints, or spoilage risk), Nim's steps in. The produce is air-dried, preserved, and given a new life. Nothing is wasted. No food is ever taken from vulnerable communities — Nim's processes only what FareShare cannot place.

Zero food waste isn't a marketing line for Nim's. It's the operating model.

---

What's next

Nim's is still growing — into garnishes, ingredients, powders, and new foodservice categories. The factory has capacity. The team has ambition. And the original question — why can't a snack just be real food? — still drives everything.

If you'd like to work with us, visit our Trade page or email trade@nimsnaturally.com.