“the Gut-health Wave Is Finally Here” – The Gut Stuff’s Ambition To Build “mass-market” Brand

Credit: The Gut Stuff

Focused connected gut-friendly snacks, drinks and high-fibre products, The Gut Stuff is looking to go a awesome subordinate successful nan UK gut wellness class by breaking down nan subject down nan microbiome.

Now stocked successful UK grocers including Tesco and The Co-op, The Gut Stuff continues to champion nan value of making gut-health products some affordable and accessible.

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Speaking up of her quality astatine nan Next Generation Ingredients 2025 convention successful London this week, Just Food sat down pinch co-founder Lisa MacFarlane to talk changes successful user habits, The Gut Stuff’s improvement truthful acold and its world ambitions.

Kristian Bayford (KB): For readers who whitethorn not know, could you springiness a little preamble to The Gut Stuff came about?

Lisa MacFarlane (LM): My copy sister and I were DJs. We’re from a working-class, Scottish background.

We volunteered for copy investigation and, arsenic portion of that, we had our courage analysed. We were fascinated by what was different betwixt america arsenic identical twins. It turned retired that we person only 30% nan aforesaid gut bacteria, which meant that if we can’t beryllium sold nan aforesaid diet, no-one can.

But, also, we became fascinated by everything that gut wellness was linked to, not conscionable digestive wellness arsenic we cognize it, but besides immunity and intelligence health.

This was backmost successful 2017, erstwhile gut-health products were often recovered astatine nan backmost of wellness nutrient stores and successful costly aisles. We naively thought: could we democratise this class and thief make it mass-market? Since then, what has gone from a passion task has snowballed into The Gut Stuff.

We person 3 cardinal business areas. The first is nan FMCG snack and nutrient business, wherever we person high-fibre snack bars. We person conscionable launched our precocious fibre popular drinks, and we’re astir to motorboat caller NPD successful Q1 adjacent year.

We past person services arms, wherever we do firm wellness schemes for Accenture, Aegon and nan RAF, wherever we’re educating workers astir nan benefits of gut health.

We’ve besides sewage a user manner app, which includes trackers and acquisition astir gut health.

And past we person a media arm, wherever we make TV shows. We’ve launched 3 books globally and we’ve conscionable launched a spin-off show called ‘Chat Shit’. We’re not conscionable a accepted nutrient business, which comes pinch some affirmative and negatives.

The Gut Stuff founders Lisa and Alana MacFarlane. Credit: The Gut Stuff

KB: How would you picture nan existent authorities of nan gut-health marketplace – and what is The Gut Stuff’s position wrong it?

LM: We’ve been saying for years that nan gut-health activity is coming and it does look for illustration it’s yet here.

I conjecture we ever wanted to beryllium that we could return gut wellness retired of cereal and dairy and into nan beforehand of shop erstwhile it came to nutrient and convenience.

We’ve done that precocious pinch The Co-op and Tesco and it feels for illustration we’re now successful a position wherever what we are offering affordable products wrong a class that antecedently didn’t exist.

That’s nan breathtaking portion for us, arsenic gut wellness is nary longer hidden astatine nan backmost of nan supermarket– now it’s astatine nan beforehand of convenience. Retailers are really helping thrust that and it’s nary longer seen arsenic a niche.

KB: How would you picture The Gut Stuff’s capacity complete nan past twelvemonth and which areas of nan business person seen nan astir growth?

LM: We’ve had astir 100% maturation complete nan past twelvemonth and we’re astir to beryllium announced arsenic 1 of nan 50 fastest-growing companies successful nan UK, which is crazy.

That maturation is chiefly successful unit and I deliberation that’s a operation of integrated maturation and marque awareness, arsenic good arsenic performing good successful those retailers and getting accrued distribution.

For us, it was important that we didn’t salary to play connected those accounts. This is simply a caller marque and I deliberation nan enticement is to do that to make them work. We knew that we had to really spot that integrated maturation to cognize that nan consumers were ready.

The Co-op and Tesco took nan drinks consecutive disconnected nan bat and we conscionable had our first wholesale listing for nan drinks arsenic well. I deliberation that nickname of user consciousness successful fibre and convenience is why we’re seeing specified maturation astatine this time.

KB: What are nan main areas of maturation that you’re targeting complete nan adjacent year?

LM: We scheme to double down connected those cardinal accounts and large market and convenience channels.

We’re launching caller NPD successful that we’re reformulating nan drinks to person 3 different types of fibre successful them. We’ve listened to our assemblage feedback, and we consciousness for illustration we should beryllium diversifying nan fibre successful there. So that’s 1 of nan cardinal levers that we tin pull.

A batch of nan drinks opportunity they’ve sewage a batch of fibre successful aliases make high-fibre claims, and there’s hardly any. We’re proud that we’re efficacious.

Even connected nan app, we’re seeing that erstwhile we wed up acquisition and product, we saw a monolithic uptick successful progressive users owed to our fibre challenge erstwhile we launched it. If we tin proceed to benignant of wed nan beingness and integer worlds that we have, that is really driving maturation arsenic well.

KB: How is user liking successful gut wellness changing and what type of products are they drawn to?

LM: I deliberation snacking is an absorbing spot for that, because group are looking for swaps, essentially.

The important point astir gut wellness is that it doesn’t person to beryllium a complete manner change.

We’re reasoning worldly like, tin you switch thing retired that had a small spot much fibre? Can you adhd immoderate much nuts and seeds onto your crockery aliases soup? I deliberation that hopefully that’s wherever consumers are going to spell and that they’re going to extremity focusing connected magic bullets, detoxes and cleanses.

We dream that those consumers will commencement switching mini snacks and elemental habits retired to shape elemental regular gut wellness habits, alternatively than reasoning that they must trim retired gluten, dairy, vino and nosy to person bully gut health.

The important point astir gut wellness is that it doesn’t person to beryllium a complete manner change.

I deliberation that fare is only 1 lever you tin propulsion for bully gut health. Sleep, stress, location are truthful galore others that effect it. I deliberation group are starting to return a much holistic wellbeing attack to gut health, alternatively than cutting retired large nutrient groups and paying for costly testing.

It really has to beryllium mini habitual changes and you don’t person to wholly revolutionise your lifestyle.

Credit: The Gut Stuff

KB: What are your thoughts connected nan emergence of GLP-1 narcotics and what effect do you deliberation they are having connected user behaviour?

LM: GLP-1 is 1 speech that’s evidently not going to spell distant and it’s only going to support growing.

Consumers are now looking for smaller formats erstwhile it comes to food, because they’re evidently eating somewhat little but, also, much nutrient dense foods successful smaller size portions.

People are really starting to attraction connected fibre and protein. That’s wherever drinks really thief pinch that arsenic well, because you tin still person functional, nutrient dense products that are drinks, and not conscionable large portions and large meals.

Particularly successful hospitality, we’re already seeing information sizes coming down to accommodate group connected these drugs. I deliberation that group are looking for solutions to get nan correct magnitude of fibre and deed their macromolecule goals whilst eating less.

Snacking is an absorbing spot to do that because they’re mostly looking for smaller meals complete nan people of nan day.

Of course, we’re advocates but, if you want to return them, do consult a healthcare master first. It’s scary erstwhile these things travel retired and go truthful commercialised and really quickly they tin alteration nan unit scenery but I do deliberation nan scenery is changing, and that, coupled pinch HFSS regulations, you’ll spot a batch of functional, healthier snacks successful beforehand of store.

Historically, it’s been very difficult for challenger brands to penetrate that front-of-store abstraction because it’s truthful competitory but, successful Tesco, we’re successful nan backmost of store, successful dried consequence and nuts sections, arsenic good arsenic successful nan queue astatine nan beforehand of store.

That was a existent turning constituent for us, and a existent impervious of constituent that, successful a large convenience grocer, we tin beryllium sitting adjacent to confectionery.

KB: Do consumers understand much astir their gut health?

LM: We were told that if you make a TV show astir gut health, you’ll beryllium connected astatine midnight, connected a transmission that nary 1 will watch. We had a prime-time slot that astir 10% nan UK organization tuned into.

Awareness is decidedly expanding and pinch that comes a large work from brands to amended consumers successful nan correct way. I deliberation there’s a batch of cowboys retired location trading snake lipid and there’s a batch of large claims.

A batch of america person to activity together to opportunity let’s beryllium honorable pinch nan consumers astir wherever nan subject is really astatine but besides getting complete nan excitement that this could perchance alteration nan measurement that you look astatine wellness and wellbeing erstwhile you look astatine gut health.

Fibre really is nan unsung leader of nutrition that I deliberation is yet getting its moment

For ages, group person been saying that nan market’s going to beryllium nevertheless galore billions by 2025 and I conscionable deliberation consumers are not location yet. I deliberation that because of nan macromolecule hype and debased carb nan benignant of demonising of carbs and fibre sewage lost.

Fibre has truthful galore benefits beyond conscionable digestive health. From bosom health, obesity, glucosuria and bowel cancer, it really is nan unsung leader of nutrition that I deliberation is yet getting its moment. For a fewer years, we were doubting if nan train would ever travel and we were truthful up of nan game.

When we launched these high-fibre bars, we were having to amended group astir fibre, which we still person to do but I consciousness for illustration now nan integrated maturation we’re seeing is coming from consumers conscionable being much alert of it.

Credit: The Gut Stuff

KB: Are location immoderate plans to grow internationally?

LM: There’s still truthful overmuch to spell aft successful nan UK but a batch of our assemblage connected our website is successful nan US and our books and TV shows are sold and shown successful a batch of European countries.

For nan world market, we’re getting truthful overmuch inbound request for world products. Next year, we are going to beryllium connected world shelves, because location is marque consciousness there.

That comes pinch its ain challenges, arsenic nan TV show and nan books are already retired successful a batch of nan countries that we’re going to commencement playing in. I deliberation it’s important to cognize that you’ve sewage a spot of a proof-point earlier you spell successful blind.

It’s each conscionable for illustration a steep learning curve but I consciousness for illustration we person to onslaught while nan robust is basking and while nan consciousness is growing.

KB: Which countries are you expanding into?

LM: It’s European countries mainly, arsenic good arsenic nan US but, for now, we’re conscionable seeing truthful overmuch maturation successful nan UK that we request to make judge that we tin jump connected that.

KB: What are your astir caller income and profit numbers and what do you forecast them to beryllium for this financial year?

LM: While we don’t stock elaborate financials, we’re proud to opportunity we’ve doubled our gross year-on-year since 2023. We’re continuing to spot beardown maturation crossed retail, e-commerce, media and workplace wellbeing and we’re excited astir what’s up this financial year.

KB: What do you spot arsenic nan main challenges facing those businesses successful nan gut-health category?

LM: I deliberation nan main point is regulation. A batch of nan regularisation astir what you tin and can’t opportunity is very strict and rightly so.

There’s a batch of bullcrap retired there, arsenic there’s immoderate consumers that still judge that there’s a magic pill and that celery juice is going to cure them of x, y and z. That’s nan main point to beryllium alert of, arsenic there’s a batch of brands claiming things that conscionable aren’t true.

There’s still a batch of activity to beryllium done and no-one successful nan class tin get complacent connected that

The 2nd point is really do we make this wide market? We’re from a working-class Scottish inheritance and we ever put everything that we do done nan select of would we person understood this erstwhile we were 14? Would we person sewage it? Would we person cared astir this?

I deliberation that group coming into gut wellness if they’ve sewage a digestive rumor is 1 point but making it for everyone is astir apt nan last barrier. Everyone’s sewage a gut and it’s linked to beautiful overmuch each wellness outcome.

We spot from our information and unit that we’re increasing crossed nan board, which we’re proud of. There’s still a batch of activity to beryllium done and no-one successful nan class tin get complacent connected that.

KB: Do you deliberation a batch of consumers underestimate nan value of gut health?

LM: What happens successful nan gut has a nonstop nexus to your intelligence health. If you spot nan personification you fancy, aliases you do immoderate nationalist speaking, you get butterflies successful your tummy but that relationship is bidirectional.

Sometimes, that’s an thought that’s a spot excessively large for everyone. Because they opportunity ‘gosh, that’s a spot scary’ but it’s empowering, and we should spot our gut wellness arsenic a instrumentality successful our armoury for each sorts of things.

As agelong arsenic group are educating astir it successful nan correct way, past it tin only beryllium a bully thing.

KB: Looking ahead, wherever do you spot The Gut Stuff successful nan adjacent 5 years – particularly successful nan discourse of a fast-changing marketplace and quickly evolving consumers habits?

LM: We emotion to beryllium nan go-to marque and successful nan beforehand of consumers’ minds erstwhile group deliberation of convenient, elemental and accessible gut-health products that’s affordable for everyone.

That intends stretching retired into caller categories, which we’re astir to do adjacent twelvemonth and surviving by our ngo of fighting for a world wherever everyone knows their guts.

What we’re building pinch nan app, arsenic good arsenic nan services business and media business is an ecosystem. We’re starting to spot that really travel to life.

We want to return consumers connected nan travel that we’ve been on. That intends enabling them to way their gut health, speak to healthcare professionals, bargain our products successful stores, publication our books, and watch a TV show.

I consciousness for illustration creating that ecosystem was astir apt a spot excessively eager astatine nan clip but now it’s really starting to salary off.