These days, many brands make 100% gluten-free (GF) products, but very few can boast that 75% of their customer base still consumes gluten. For Feel Good Foods, this was somewhat of a happy accident – although not exactly.
Before Vanessa Phillips co-founded the gluten-free frozen foods brand, she was already a diehard foodie who had worked in her family’s Chinese restaurants and bagel shops in New York City growing up and dreamed of owning her own restaurant.
Then, came a crushing blow: getting diagnosed with celiac disease at age 20.
Phillips was especially heartbroken at the idea of not being able to enjoy the potstickers at her dad’s restaurants anymore, but instead of wallowing in this disappointment, she decided to do something about it.
Bound and determined to find a way to eat her favorite foods again without getting sick, Phillips teamed up with Tryg, a chef and food scientist who eventually helped her bring her vision to fruition. They put their heads together and began creating delicious, gluten-free versions of the foods she missed most, prioritizing the “delicious” aspect as much as the GF element.
This philosophy is integral to the brand, which strives to create products that are delicious, period – not simply delicious for being GF – and this distinction is important.
“Gluten-free is fundamental to who we are and not a choice for me, but a dietary necessity. That said, we’ve never relied on this specification as our only differentiator,” Phillips told FI.
“Our goal has always been to make food that is genuinely delicious first, with the same nostalgic taste and spot-on texture that consumers expect from the classics they grew up with.
“Gluten-free drives discovery for a core segment of our customers, but taste and quality are what earn repeat purchases.”
But nailing the taste of GF products is just one piece of the puzzle – texture is often where the real challenge lies.
“Historically, texture has been where gluten-free products fall short, especially in frozen food. The product must hold up through freezing, shipping, and reheating, while still delivering the crisp exterior, fluffy center, or satisfying bite consumers expect,” Phillips told FI.
“That takes a tremendous amount of R&D, but it is also where we can change someone’s perception from ‘good for gluten-free’ to ‘this is just really good’. Texture is a huge focus for us, and we pride ourselves on only creating products that mimic their non-gluten free counterparts.”
Clean Label, Mainstream Appeal
In addition to being gluten-free, many of the brand’s products are also soy-free, vegan, and/or vegetarian – and all are made without artificial dyes, flavors, and sweeteners, which is a huge selling point for health-conscious consumers looking for clean labels and ingredient transparency.
This has worked in Feel Good’s favor, especially given the pricing gap that exists between GF items and their standard counterparts, which Phillips says is unavoidable given that wheat is simply much cheaper than GF alternatives.
That being said, many consumers are still willing to pay a premium for clean-label products, and this appears to be a bipartisan priority.
For brands hoping to develop premium, allergen-free products with mainstream appeal, Phillips offered the following advice:
“The average consumer does not want to feel like they are compromising, so my advice is to lead with the experience the product delivers, and never skimp on differentiators like taste, convenience, and quality. An allergen promise claim might drive trial, but the product itself has to be strong enough to bring people back.”
Food for Thought Leadership
Food retail is undergoing a fundamental transformation, and few people have a better vantage point than the SupermarketGuru Phil Lempert. In this episode of Food for Thought Leadership, Lempert joins FI’s Chris Campbell to discuss the forces reshaping grocery, from inflation and private label growth to changing consumer expectations around health, wellness, and transparency.
