Meet the Person Behind the Brand: Lilian Umurungi-Jung, Founder & Owner, MUMGRY

Earlier this year, Gopuff announced the launch of “Put Me On,” a small business accelerator program designed to help underrepresented entrepreneurs grow their businesses. The first group of participants include entrepreneurs in the beauty, home essentials, and food and beverage categories, including Lilian Umurungi-Jung, Founder & Owner, MUMGRY.

MUMGRY is a plant-based snack food company that sells all-natural, vegan nut butters made using only the good stuff – with no added palm oil or additives. MUMGRY roasts their nuts in-house and combines them with real dark chocolate. 

What was the catalyst that led you to become an entrepreneur?  

While I was pregnant with my son, I needed a snack that was made using only the good stuff! I came home frustrated and hungry for something simple, nutritious, and delicious. 

One day, I came home from work and screamed out loud to my husband that “I was MUMGRY!” He laughed, and then he encouraged me to make my own snacks. With a strong craving for peanut butter, we created the most delicious and simple-ingredient line of natural nut butters for everyone to enjoy! 

Filled with natural protein, iron, and calcium, our nut butters are made using freshly roasted nuts and real dark chocolate, with no added palm oil or dairy, and packaged in reusable glass jars.

What is your company mission and where do you want to see the company in five years? 

At MUMGRY we would like to continue introducing the cleanest and most environmentally-friendly version of pantry essentials. We enjoy elevating foods that we can’t live without and that most of us grew up eating.

Community is a large component of our brand. We are constantly rewarding and celebrating our customers for their incredible work in underserved communities through our #MUMGRYMonday initiative. We also strive to make our products more accessible (Thank you, GoPuff!) and available in communities throughout North America.

Tell us about your company’s presence in your community. 

We have a very close connection with our community. We do everything to support the small businesses that give us real estate on their shelves. We also do a ton of fun collaborations and our products are incorporated into many menu items around Vancouver.

What are you hoping to get out of the “Put Me On” program?  

Put Me On is bigger than anything we’ve ever been a part of. It’s going to have a tremendous impact on how brands like ours envision the future of their business. For so long, access to companies as successful as Gopuff felt unattainable. Now we are gifted with mentorship and resources from seasoned professionals.

We would like to gain a better understanding of how we can maintain our space on the platform while also growing with Gopuff.  We see Gopuff as one of the most innovative retailers of all time.

What is one piece of advice you would give to other entrepreneurs and why?  

Write the story of your brand and continually add more chapters. If you have a vision or dream, write the roadmap – don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t start your engine and your path to success. Pull over and ask for help and directions when you need to, as well. We wouldn’t keep driving if we didn’t know where we were going, and the same applies to business – ask for help and bring in experts when necessary.

What was the last item you purchased on Gopuff? What is your favorite snack?  

We purchased MUMGRY because we wanted to see how quickly it arrived to our friends, and it was way faster than we expected! 

Our favorite snack of the moment is chocolate peanut butter cups made with our chocolate peanut butter. Something about the holidays makes us gravitate towards all things chocolate.