From Social Media to Supermarket: The Power of Personal Brand & Deliciously Ella’s Rise to Fame

Whether you’ve come across Deliciously Ella before or not, its journey is nothing short of extraordinary. In 2012, Ella Mills was a 21-year-old student when she was diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, a chronic condition that brought with it a range of debilitating digestive issues. Almost overnight, she overhauled her diet, turning to a wholefood, plant-based lifestyle in the hope of easing her symptoms.

Under the alias Deliciously Ella, she began documenting her journey online, sharing recipes and reflections that quickly resonated with a growing community. Her followers, many of whom were also looking to manage health challenges or transition to a plant-based lifestyle, found her approach refreshingly simple, flavourful, and rooted in familiar, comforting foods.

Just three years later, Ella had gone from newly diagnosed and depleted to a bestselling cookbook author on Amazon UK and the proud owner of her first café, all while seeing meaningful improvements in her health. But the story didn’t stop there. In 2016, together with her husband, she expanded into packaged goods, securing shelf space in retailers such as Starbucks and Whole Foods. What began with snack products soon grew into a full breakfast range, followed by restaurant ventures across Europe, including Ireland, Switzerland and Austria.

Today, Deliciously Ella is far more than a social media handle. It is a testament to the power of personal storytelling, authenticity and the ability of a brand to connect deeply with its audience, not just through food but through shared values and lived experience.

From Social Media to Supermarket

In a recent episode of the Uncensored CMO podcast, System1’s Jon Evans sat down with Ella to explore her remarkable rise: the successes, the setbacks, and the lessons learned as she grew from a social media creator into a household brand. The conversation touched on everything from scaling Deliciously Ella into supermarkets to how she continues to stand out in such a crowded marketplace.

But we wanted to dig even deeper. What is it about Ella’s recipes, the ingredients, the flavour combinations and the brand itself, that resonates so strongly with consumers? To find out, we ran six of her most popular and recent recipes through our Test Your Innovation platform. Each recipe was tested twice: once with the Deliciously Ella name attached, and once as a standalone recipe. We used a nationally representative audience alongside a targeted group of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free “non-rejectors.”

By leveraging the predictive power of consumer emotion, we identified which recipes and components had the strongest appeal and why. Since these recipes often diverge from what many consumers consider the norm, using natural, plant-based and gluten-free ingredients, our aim was to see which ones had the greatest potential to attract new customers to the Deliciously Ella brand.

Our approach was rooted in John Kearon’s research System1: Unlocking Profitable Growth. The guiding hypothesis shows that familiar recipes are more likely to resonate with consumers. Kearon coined this principle “fluent innovation,” based on research showing that the most successful innovations tend to be around 80% familiar and 20% new. Familiarity is measured by the emotional response of “happiness,” while novelty is signalled by “surprise.”

It is the same reason many meat-free products still call themselves a “burger” rather than inventing a completely new name. The word “burger” sets clear expectations of flavour, format and experience, which lowers the barrier for consumers to try something different while still feeling reassured.

In addition to emotional response, we also assessed the following:

• Emotional Pull: Using our FaceTrace® tool, we measure emotional resonance to determine how effectively components resonate with consumers, and reasons why consumers felt this way.

• Share Trading: We gauged consumers’ willingness to “buy” or “sell” each recipe, revealing key insights into purchasing behaviour and preferences.

• Decision Speed: We tracked how quickly and instinctively consumers engaged with the recipe. Fast reactions were positively weighted, while slower responses were penalised, offering a nuanced view of enthusiasm and spontaneous engagement.

But are consumers buying into the brand or the recipe? Let’s find out!

Know Your Audience(s)

At first glance, the results suggested that attaching the Deliciously Ella brand to the recipes made little difference in emotional response. Interestingly, the top-performing recipe among the nationally representative sample was the Mediterranean Pasta Salad, which earned a 4.3-star rating when tested without the Deliciously Ella name. When the same recipe was tested with the brand attached, it achieved just 3.0 stars in comparison.

For a mass audience, the findings revealed that flavour and health matter more than the brand name itself. This was echoed in the verbatim responses, with comments such as “rich flavour,” “tasty and fresh,” and “easy to make” standing out as key drivers of positivity. The Mediterranean Pasta Salad recipe in particular highlights speed and simplicity, with a low “15-minute” prep time and a detailed description of how its components pair together, painting a clear and enticing picture of what to expect. When aiming to recruit new buyers, Deliciously Ella should emphasise these features, since this broader audience is less influenced by labels such as “vegan,” “gluten-free,” or “gut-friendly.”

The results became even more compelling when we looked at the custom sample of non-rejectors, consumers already familiar with vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian products. For this group, the Deliciously Ella brand carried significant weight. And it makes sense: the more consumers shop within these categories, the more familiar they become with the brands they trust and enjoy. Within this audience, Deliciously Ella emerged as a clear standout, with the Mediterranean Pasta Salad achieving a 4.1-star rating and the Cottage Pie scoring 3.6 stars when attached to the brand. Words such as “trust,” “quality,” and “fits well with the brand” were most associated with these results, highlighting the strength of Deliciously Ella’s brand equity beyond the recipes alone.

As Deliciously Ella has grown from Instagram handle to restaurant chain and product supplier, one thing has remained constant: the brand. From its origins on social media, Ella Mills has consistently retained the same name, logo and positioning across every touchpoint. This consistency not only strengthens mental availability by keeping the brand top of mind for consumers but also drives physical availability by making it easy to recognise and pick up in store. By aligning both, Deliciously Ella ensures that social media followers and category buyers can seamlessly connect the brand they know online with the products they see on shelves.

Create with Confidence

Operating in a competitive category like food and beverage brings obvious challenges. If your product is too similar to what already exists, you risk blending in. If it is too different from what consumers are familiar with, you risk turning them away. The key is to strike the right balance. That is why it is essential to test your recipes, product components, brand affinity and more to understand how they will perform in market.

System1’s Test Your Innovation platform makes this possible by allowing you to test new products concepts, messaging, taglines and claims before launch. With its ability to predict success well in advance, you can create and introduce products with confidence.