Soup-maker sees business soar after Dragons' Den

A soup-maker has said she has seen a massive surge in demand since appearing on tv series Dragons' Den.

Bella Acland, from Shropshire, won the backing of guest dragon Susie Ma and £40,000 on the BBC show, which aired on Thursday. She said the firm had been "prepared for a spike [in sales], but nothing like this".

Since filming the episode, Soul Kitchen has seen sales grow by 920%, with almost 500,000 soups sold and has been able to expand into more than 100 independent stockists.

She said the show had been an "amazing platform" and with more product ranges now planned, she added the investment was "going to unlock that next stage of growth".

Acland said the idea for her high-end packet soups came to her while she was studying zoology at Sheffield University in 2019.

She set up her business at the Battlefield Enterprise Park in Shrewsbury in 2024, aiming to "reinvent the instant soup category with premium, plant-powered products made from real vegetables and nothing artificial".

But she said she realised she needed help to expand further, so she applied to appear on Dragons' Den and was invited into the studio in 2025.

Speaking about walking out in front of the dragons, she said: "It was really nerve-wracking, I wasn't prepared to feel that level of fear walking in."

Each encounter with the dragons might seem brief when the edited highlights are broadcast, but Acland said her meeting lasted for three hours.

The meeting went well though and she said: "The dragons were kind, they really guided me through the different questions."

She also said she had some "really interesting conversations" and enjoyed the experience.

While some of the dragons decided not to invest, Tropic Skincare founder Susie Ma was impressed.

She told Acland: "You love sales and I can see that - your challenges are within supply chain operations and I can really help you with that."

She also described the soups as "a really, really kickass product that no-one has seen before".

When she eventually offered the £40,000 Acland wanted in return for a 15% share of the business, a deal was agreed quickly.

Acland said: "The music makes that sound a lot more dramatic. It was a really great offer."

Acland said Ma immediately reached out after the show to offer "lots of great feedback".

She said: "I think we really clicked in the den and hearing Susie's journey and her business area and also being a fellow female founder meant a lot to me."

Later, Ma put her in touch with her own team to give her more support.

But for the past year she has had to keep her appearance on the show a secret, so when the episode was aired on Thursday it was a surprise to everyone she knows.

She invited about 40 people to a watch-party to see it go out live and said it was not a comfortable experience.

"I was probably more nervous actually sat in front of my mates," she said.

Acland added that she was doubly-nervous because she did not know how her appearance would be edited.

After appearing on the episode, she said she had received a wonderful response from friends and from fellow producers.

"The food and drink world is amazing, so friendly," she said.

She also said her business had grown a lot since she met Ma and she had "some really exciting new products" in the pipeline, with a noodle range due to launch in October.

Acland said: "Soup is where we started, but our ambition has always been much bigger.

"We want to become the go-to brand for healthy convenience."

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