‘We Need The Hype Machine’: Low-FODMAP Foods Go Broad In Search of Consumers
The low-FODMAP food category is still fairly niche, but the diet – which offers scientifically-proven eating patterns that support digestive relief for people suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) – could propel businesses in the space to the forefront of the next popular diet trend. However, low-FODMAP brands aren’t looking to be just another fad.
“In terms of the size of the prize – the market size – this is big,” said Steven Singer, founder and CEO of low-FODMAP brand Fody Food Co. “IBS is bigger than autism. IBS is bigger than diabetes. IBS [affects an] enormous [portion of the population] when you add the numbers up. [But], awareness of what this diet is, is not where it needs to be.”
A handful of brands – such as Fody, Gourmend Foods and BelliWelli – have emerged over the last decade with the mission to make IBS-friendly foods easier for shoppers to quickly identify on-shelf. Though the small segment often falls under the wider “gut health” umbrella, food companies designed around this diet recognize that broader appeal as an important tool to generate awareness and help the dietary solution gain traction among consumers.
The low-FODMAP diet is currently the only existing science-backed diet-based program to manage and reduce IBS symptoms. Approximately 10-15% of the global population, and upwards of 50 million Americans, have been diagnosed with IBS; in comparison, about 1% of the U.S. population, or 2 million people, suffer from Celiac disease. There is even overlap between the recommended diets for those suffering from Celiac and IBS. However, while most American consumers understand gluten-free, not everyone is familiar with low-FODMAP.
FODMAPs – which stands for Fermentable Oligo-saccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols – are short chain carbohydrates that can be difficult for the body to absorb. In the simplest terms, these are sugars that are naturally present in a wide variety of foods including fruit, vegetables, grains, cereals, nuts, legumes, lentils and dairy products. They are also found in many processed and manufactured foods, preservatives and sweeteners. Unlike gluten, which can be identified in clearly-defined food groups such as wheat, barley and rye, predicting the presence of FODMAPs is less clear cut and certain FODMAPs impact those with IBS more than others.
“Every letter in the FODMAP word are all different groups and the way this diet works is you can have a problem with one letter and I can have another problem with a different letter, and we might not be the same – every [person’s] body is different,” explained Singer.
The existence of FODMAPs and their effect on those suffering from IBS was discovered in 2004 by researchers at Monash University, a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. Over the following decade, the institution spearheaded awareness and education for FODMAPs among the gastroenterology community and developed a testing and certification program for FODMAPS that is now used by over 300 products and raw ingredients sold around the world.
According to Dr. Jane Muir, Head of Translational Nutrition Science at Monash, requests from manufacturers as well as IBS patients drove the creation of the certification program with many consumers reporting they struggled to identify low-FODMAP products on store shelves. According to Muir, the presence of these digestive irritants can’t be readily identified by skimming an ingredient list, making the diet incredibly complex to follow.
“People with [IBS] are looking for low-FODMAP products that are clearly labeled low-FODMAP,” said Muir. “We need to have more products available for this group of consumers. Our years of experience working on this has shown us that you cannot predict if a food will be low FODMAP just by looking at a food label, [it] must be laboratory tested.”
Muir said the group’s FODMAP-focused app has been downloaded in 130 countries yet it regularly sees the most downloads from users in the U.S. despite the diet having a stronger presence within Australia and other English-speaking countries. While interest in low-FODMAP has steadily risen in the U.S. over the last five years, brands in the space are still working to generate broader awareness and destigmatize IBS through their products and brand identities.
Between the portfolios of Fody, Gourmand and Belliwelli, products in the low-FODMAP market now range from broths and seasonings to snack bars and sauces. According to Muir, Monash has certified 200 products and ingredients that are available in the U.S.; Fody’s portfolio accounts for over 30 of those products alone. Singer highlighted that some companies offer gut-friendly SKUs that are likely low-FODMAP, like Rao’s “Sensitive Marinara” (made without onions and garlic), without overtly stating the claim or applying for certification.
“Our positioning… has been the hardest part,” said Singer. “[The challenge is] trying to resonate with the 50 million people in America that suffer with some sort of gut health digestive issue, like IBS, but also [resonate with] those other 50 million people that don’t know what the low-FODMAP diet is.”
This emerging interest, driven by a handful of mission-driven founders, could signal an acceleration of this new science-based subset within the gut health food space. Gourmend Foods founder Ketan Vakil and BelliWelli founder and CEO Katie Wilson started their respective IBS-friendly brands after battling their own gut health challenges.s. Like Fody, both have also broadened their position to more generic “digestive friendly” platforms.
In contrast, Singer, who has worked in low-FODMAP since 2016 and previously founded and led gluten-free brand Glutino until it sold in 2011, believes the movement needs a “Hollywood influencer” to get consumers on-board with the “taboo” subject of IBS and by extension, low-FODMAP dieting. He compared the potential of low-FODMAP to the growth of gluten-free, which has been tied to numerous factors ranging from the popularity of fad-dieting to increased research and understanding around Celiac disease, to even Gwenyth Paltrow, who once claimed the publication of her gluten-free cookbook in 2015 jump started the trend.
So, does low-FODMAP really need its own GOOP guru? Not necessarily. Singer, Vakil, Muir and Wilson agree that retailers could serve as the perfect “hype machine,” but currently, most buyers do not have a clear understanding of what constitutes gut health beyond the realm of prebiotics and probiotics. Singer and Vakil also believe they are confused as to why certain consumers would need these specific products in the first place.
Online grocery platform Thrive Market offers a dedicated low-FODMAP section, but not all of these products have been certified to Monash’s standards. Additionally, meal kit delivery service Epicured offers a wide range of diet specific plans from paleo to vegan, but states that all plans are also 100% Low FODMAP and gluten-free.
Fody is currently sold in over 7,000 stores nationwide including Kroger, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans Publix, Safeway and Albertsons, as well as retailers in Canada, the U.K. and Australia. BelliWelli recently rolled out into brick and mortar retail with a national Sprouts launch followed by H-E-B stores across Texas and Gourmend is just beginning to look beyond DTC and move into retail, said Vakil. As low-FODMAP increases its retail presence Singer hopes the category does not get siloed to its own section of the store.
“Right now, we don’t want to see a low-FODMAP section in a grocery store because people won’t go down that aisle and people won’t have a clue what it is,” Singer said. “If you don’t have a cat, you’re not going to go by the cat food aisle. When our pasta sauce is near Rao’s, Carbone and all the other guys… that’s when we do best.”
Reaching a wider swath of consumers is key, with FODMAP brands also highlighting their simple, clean ingredient lists. Singer stated that since those tenets are typically attractive to consumers, they also help put the brand on a level playing field with other premium products and avoid differentiating it as a “medical or clinical” type food option.
“Food sensitivities and the want for high quality ingredients knows no bounds,” said Vakil, who explained that while Gourmend’s consumer base skews Gen X and female, the brand has many older, younger and “customers from all over the country.” Wilson has also previously told NOSH that she had also assumed her brand’s primary consumer would be from large metropolitan areas like New York City or Los Angeles, but based on its DTC sales, BelliWelli consumers are fairly well-distributed across America.
“Because low-FODMAP is very science based, I truly believe it’s the answer to a great many gut health challenges,” said Vakil. “With all the supporting science and real world results I think low-FODMAP is still just getting started.”
