Ms Valenzuela has been making her own granola since the 1980s, but started to experiment with using beetroot in her culinary creations three years ago. 

“I started off with accredited farmer’s markets. They are the best way to introduce an original, innovative product,” she said. 

“It is a cognitive dissidence having a vegetable in a muesli so markets are a great way for people to try it. And they often change their minds and buy the products!”

Ms Valenzuela said farmers markets were a great incubator for start-ups with original products, like hers, because people who travel to farmer’s markets are generally ‘foodies’ who are willing to try new food. 

She said sourcing her beetroot for her vegan, gluten and refined sugar free muesli from nearby farms was important to her for a number of reasons.

“This supports local businesses and by the food having travelled less miles, the produce’s nutrients don’t have time to degenerate. 

“It is very important that the time between when produce is picked, to the time it lands on your plate is short, so you eat the full scope of nutrients,” she said. 

Ms Valenzuela said her journey in using and eating more beetroot was a therapeutic one, after she had been diagnosed with high blood pressure and learned the nitric oxide in the vegetable could boost oxygen delivery to the heart, thereby lowering blood pressure levels.

Since she saw the benefits of “beetroot therapy” for herself, she has become a self-declared “beetroot prophet”.  

Ms Valenzuela said she had experimented with a number of ways to incorporate the vegetable into the muesli, but freeze drying it had proved the best way to retain its colour and nutrients. 

Recently, Ms Valenzuela received a $5000 artisanal grant from the state government to upgrade her equipment from household to industrial grade. This will assist her with lowering production costs.