Live Free Foods

Live Free Foods is passionate about giving people the tools to manage their Irritable Bowel Syndrome through delicious Low FODMAP food products and immediately actionable education.

What the heck is a FODMAP?

Technically speaking, FODMAP stands for "Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-Saccharides And Polyols". More simply, a FODMAP is a group of short chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed by the body.

For most people, these short chain carbs go entirely unnoticed and pose zero health concerns. For sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), however, they wreak havoc throughout their intestinal journey. This often means frequent, urgent and painful trips to the bathroom throughout the day as well as feeling bloated and gassy. Sufferers are often afraid of leaving the house and are forced to plan their days around access to immediate bathroom facilities (or else risk embarrassing consequences.)

This is the everyday reality for the roughly 1 in 7 people that suffer from IBS. That's 46 Million people in the USA alone! Doctors prescribe a myriad of pharmaceutical options to these people but many of them are imperfect solutions and frequently introduce new problems or frustrations caused by the medication.

A diet low in FODMAPs has been clinically proven to manage the symptoms of IBS, and is more effective (and safer) than the leading drugs on the market. Unfortunately, FODMAPs are in most store-bought products and very few options presently exist that cater to a Low-FODMAP diet. Similarly, educational resources have been scarce to help build awareness and help people thrive with this new way of eating.

That’s where Live Free Foods comes in. Our founder has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 6 years and saw first-hand how people were being set up for failure to manage their symptoms. That’s why he founded Live Free Foods - to help people effectively treat their debilitating IBS symptoms with good food and education, rather than medication, so they can live healthy and normal lives again.

The R&D

When deciding which foods to introduce first to the market, we collaborated with a very close-knit, science-focused support group on Facebook for sufferers of IBS. We looked at the foods people missed most and conducted formal and informal surveys to see where the most urgent demand was. With that, we learned that condiments and sauces were urgently needed and desired. One user went so far as to echo the sentiment of the entire group and proclaim, “make anything and we’ll buy it now!” (that’s a real quote, and a common sentiment among the survey responses)

We then teamed up with a food scientist, dietitians, bloggers, and most importantly, an independent laboratory in Australia (the birthplace of Low FODMAP) to create our first products. We went the extra mile to officially certify all of our products as Low FODMAP so that our customers would immediately know that our products are guaranteed safe and that our brand puts their gut health first.

Outstanding Initial Market Response

In February of 2018, we launched our first product, Ranch dressing. To our dismay, we discovered we weren’t the first Low FODMAP Ranch on the market. But the rave reviews started rolling in for our Ranch’s taste and quality and our competitors pulled their entire line of salad dressings, and never re-released a Ranch dressing.

As we picked up steam we launched two more salad dressings and sold out several times on Amazon and our website as we struggled to meet the demand that was growing in the market for our products. We've also expanded our distribution into over 100 physical grocery stores such as Hy-Vee, HEB, and Kroger.

One amazing fact we discovered was that grocery stores were ALREADY eyeing Low FODMAP products before we came along. Nearly every store we talked with said some variation of “Don’t worry about slotting fees and onboarding, if its Low FODMAP we’re fast tracking it”. This has helped us get into KeHe Distributors and we're currently in talks with UNFI. With these partnerships Live Free Foods will have full coverage of grocery stores within the USA.

To date, we’ve also sold over 6,000 bottles of salad dressing online to over 3,000 customers. Some of which have ordered over 10 times and counting. We constantly receive messages from customers saying how our Ranch dressing alone has changed their lives (yes, really!).

Trusted Partners 

It’s one thing to just make great food and sell it to people, but that’s not our whole mission. We started Live Free Foods to help people suffering from IBS to Live Symptom Free. Foods are only half of the equation. And exclusion diets only work if you are equipped with the right knowledge. 

Part of our expansion plan is to be THE trusted source for all information and guidance Low FODMAP and Gut Health related. We are building a website library stocked with great recipes, meal plans, diet guides, and helpful articles about all aspects of the diet journey. Additionally, we’re building our community bigger every day. We’re all in this together and being able to talk in real time helps people make better decisions about their health and brings new ideas to both sides of the equation. 

We’re also partnering with top food bloggers, dietitians and doctors to ensure that every piece of content is informative, up to date and most importantly - scientifically accurate.

Our Team

Scot Savarese, the founder of Live Free Foods, spent over 6 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a gastroenterology representative and regional trainer. Everyday, he educated physicians on how to diagnose and treat patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Experiencing first hand how the industry was letting people down everyday, and having seen how the new Low FODMAP diet was helping real people, he made the decision to start Live Free Foods as an effective non-pharmaceutical option for IBS sufferers.

In 2019, Walton Clark joined our team as our COO, bringing over 20 years of experience in the CPG industry to our team. Walton is the former director of marketing at Unilever where he managed brands such as Wish-Bone, Ragu, Bertolli, and Lipton. At Unilever he launched over $100 million in new products led the turnaround of several legacy brands, including Wish-Bone and Ragu. 

The Future is FODMAP

We’re not just building a brand, we’re building a market. Low FODMAP has the potential to be 7x larger than Gluten Free. Did you know Celiac Disease, the primary reason to eat gluten free only affect an estimated 1.9% of the population?

Irritable Bowel Affects 14%. Additionally, new evidence suggests that a large portion of people following a Gluten Free diet, those with Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance would be better served by a Low FODMAP diet.

Why We Need Your Help

Given the incredible Low FODMAP market potential, we’re currently researching new products to launch not only in the sauce and condiment space, but also in a wide array of other grocery products where a quality Low FODMAP equivalent doesn't presently exist.

The proceeds of this investment round specifically will be focused on the launch of new products and building out a strong ecommerce sales channel. Within 6 months, with targeted marketing and optimization, we are projected to hit $40,000/mo in online sales alone. This will result in a far stronger cash flow situation and far greater brand awareness. This will allow us to further expand our grocery footprint.

Up until now, we’ve struggled to keep products in stock due to market demand, financial restrictions, and supplier lead times. This has led to spotty availability online and delays in supplying reorders for our wholesale clients. We’ve since found a new manufacturer that can keep up with our demand, produce better quality, and have increased our margins by 6x! Having a reliable supply chain plus the confidence in our cashflow will allow us to pursue the 2,500+ stores currently stocking Low FODMAP products.

We’re also pursuing a partnership with the NIH. Not only will this allow us to conduct our own research to further cement our commitment to being an education partner, it will also provide grant funding to further fund our growth. 

There are still millions of people who haven’t heard about how a Low FODMAP Diet can manage their digestive disorder. We’re on a mission. To provide people with the food and resources to take their Gut Health into their own hands. Not only will this become the next global market trend in the Natural Food space, but Live Free Foods will be one of the first brands to help people Live Symptom Free.

Do you want to be part of the Future of Gut Health?