My Story

Hi! My name is Sally.  I’m the owner of Treat Trunk and run it pretty much completely by myself (with a little help from hubby & the kids).

The idea for Treat Trunk started to blossom in the Spring of 2018 after I tried to find a healthy snack box and was hugely disappointed with the boxes I tried. I trawled the internet looking for a better solution and found nothing. So I decided to start my own!

My history

I grew up with sugar addiction most of my life and suffered with various health problems such as low energy, fatigue, brain fog, mood swings and digestive issues (tummy aches, reflux etc.) and I was weak and unmotivated.

When I fell pregnant with my first child in 2011 I committed to a healthier, less toxic lifestyle and began to read tons about nutrition. I channelled my love for cooking into making and creating healthy snacks – I loved the challenge and unlimited potential in creating delicious healthier snacks at home.  

I was still battling my own sugar addiction though and would have times where I’d fall off the wagon and it would take me a few months to get back on track.  I’d find myself bingeing on high sugar snacks like chocolate and then setting a date where I completely restricted myself.  It helped me to lose weight and feel healthier but mentally I always felt like I was missing out and when I fell off the wagon, I’d put the weight back on again, entering another cycle of fatigue, lack of motivation, guilt and shame.  

Finding Balance

I needed a more stable approach – one that included healthier snacks as part of a balanced diet.  But with two young children to look after, I didn’t always have the time or energy to make everything from scratch. 

I discovered Nakd bars around this time – they were the only healthier bar I found appearing in the supermarkets so I would grab a few.  Very slowly, a few more options started appearing and I started to experiment and search for more.  

I realised that what you see in supermarkets and shops is less than 1% of the choice available and I found so called “health food” shops very misleading.  Since learning more about ingredients and their effects I’ve been shocked to find ingredients like high fructose corn syrup as the main ingredient in many snacks labelled ‘healthy’.  There are snacks created for children that contain the likes of MSG (which sends my heart racing let alone a tiny toddler heart) and all kinds of harmful colourings and additives.

Beating sugar addiction

In my search for different and exciting healthier snacks, I found many options that have completely replaced my need for high sugar snacks.  Since I replaced standard treats with healthier ones, my health and wellbeing has skyrocketed.  I no longer walk around in a fog, or get weak and dizzy in need of, you guessed it, more sugar to keep me going.  I broke out of the endless cycle of sugar highs and lows.  And I have more energy and strength for working out and playing with the kids. I’ve given myself the gift of time and presence.

Nowadays, there are so many innovative brands offering truly healthy snacks.  However, they’re not always easy to find!  Tracking down new brands and checking out what ingredients they use, as well as their ethical practices is time consuming.  Plus buying online directly from these small companies means buying in bulk and paying postage charges for each company. Healthy snack boxes are a much more convenient way of getting a great variety of nutritious goodies delivered and who doesn’t like a monthly surprise of delicious guilt free treats?! 

Starting School

When my children were small, I took great care to ensure they didn’t fall into the same sugar addiction that had affected me for so much of my life.  I weaned them onto a natural, whole foods diet.  I cooked our meals using simple, unprocessed ingredients.  I wanted to give them the best possible start in life. 

When my son started school in 2016, I couldn’t believe how much sugar he was exposed to.  I thought it was the school’s place to continue educating him and carry on the good work I’d done.  I was shocked at the reality. Ironically, they would send him home with a bag of Haribo and a leaflet on reducing sugar intake on the same day. 

I managed to improve the situation at the school a little but I realised many people weren’t quite ready for change and I had to approach my mission another way.  So, I wanted to make sure that treat trunk supported families by providing boxes for children and families as well as non parent adults. All one off boxes and our mini subscription box can be customised for adults, kids or both at checkout and the full size subscription box is suitable for the whole family.

Fitting In

Once your kids start school, they stop wanting to be like you so much and more like their peers.  I believe strongly in the benefits of feeling part of society.  I didn’t want my children to feel like outsiders so I began to search even more for fun, healthier snack options that didn’t feel like a boring replacement. My son is very excited to take snacks like cola raisins, sour yoyos and date and seed bars to school and show them off.  He doesn’t feel like he misses out (and he still has traditional naughty treats now and then).

I realised that treating yourself can also be nourishing, empowering and guilt free.  Treating yourself should be about having a little moment of pleasure that also helps you take care of yourself. A healthy relationship with food is a healthy relationship with yourself – I love the saying ‘eating well is a form of self respect’.

There’s no greater feeling than knowing yours and your family’s health is taken care of and that’s the driving force behind my passion for Treat Trunk.

How did you discover the benefits of healthy snacks?  Have you always had a healthy lifestyle, or like me, is it something you’ve had to learn the hard way?