About Us

Totally Wonderfuel is the brainchild of me, Mel Varvel, a keen endurance athlete and amateur baker with a passion for natural nutrition.

I started competing in triathlon over a decade ago but over the years found myself increasingly frustrated (and hungry) with both the range and quality- or lack- of food and drink available at competitions, sportives and pretty much every mass participation event I attended.

To be fair, there is ALWAYS a burger van. On the face of it, there's nothing wrong with a good burger or a few streaky rashers sandwiched between slices of thick white, of course…in moderation…unless you're vegetarian or vegan. But I couldn't help but think that there must be room at sports events for more honest, wholesome, healthy, nutritious and delicious offerings designed for athletes (and their loved ones) by an athlete (all be it an aging one)...and I know I'm not alone.

My interest in baking was initially borne out of a desire to appease my significant other who was left at home, often for hours (days) on end waiting for me to come back from training or racing. 'Why?' was the question. Cake was the answer! But I also had a selfish interest in exercising my baking habit. After years of struggling with sugary gels and bars I started experimenting with real food and natural performance enhancers like beetroot (who knew) and caffeine. Placating baking became performance baking.

Fast forward 10 years to May 2015 and I took a once in a lifetime opportunity to apply my experience as a frustrated, often hungry competitor and baker by taking voluntary redundancy from a career in the NHS and spending my redundancy money on a shiny silver retro catering trailer. My cunning plan was to poach punters from the ubiquitous burger/ bacon butty van at sports events by providing an altogether more healthful, more delectable, more felicitous offering.

In a nutshell, Totally Wonderfuel aims to make race day food one less thing for athletes to worry about - whether it's a caffeine fix before you go, fuel for the road (or trails), refuelling or rewarding yourself for a job well done, or treating the kids to a healthy snack.

Interest in some of my products- particularly the energy balls- has been so high amongst family and friends that I'm now taking orders, so you don't have to wait in line in a muddy field to sample Totally Wonderfuel.

Whatever sport you're into, and however serious (or not) you are about training or racing, have a great season and I look forward to seeing you on the finish line, or maybe in the queue for one of my Pocket Rocketfuel energy balls before the start!

Mel