Around 70% of all Americans deal with daily gastrointestinal (GI) issues. And the current hypothesis is that around 1/5 of those are due to IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
Which currently isn’t well understood as to what causes it and what can be done to “heal” it…
Other than something called the low FODMAP diet, which was created by Monash University in Australia. FODMAPs are short chain carbohydrates that are poorly digested (eg, onions, garlic, apples, cauliflower, peaches, almonds)
The interesting thing about the low FODMAP diet is that it’s not always a black and white “yes or no” when it comes to specific foods. Usually it’s a threshold in terms of volume. Which can make it very difficult to follow as a consumer. Since most packaged foods and aisles in the grocery store don’t suite this population well.
Katie Wilson founded belliwelli with her husband to solve this problem after personally suffering from IBS and having 0 luck finding options that aligned with her dietary needs (& still tasted great)
belliwelli is the first soft baked, low FODMAP snack bar with probiotics to go to market. They’re free of gluten, dairy, and sugar alcohols too.
The bars were actually born out of accident. Katie was missing chocolate chip cookies, which were nearly impossible to consume under her new diet plan. Fortunately, her husband decided to hire a food scientist to crack the code on the perfect low FODMAP cookie recipe. Once they landed on it, Katie was so in love, she bought a bar mold and started using it to take her cookies on the go.
From here, Katie started a Facebook group to connect with others dealing with IBS so she didn’t have to feel so alone in her journey. And later used this community to incubate belliwelli as a brand. They choose the name of the company, all the bar flavors, ingredient lineup, and more.
But the bars are really just the beginning for Katie and her team. They’re on a mission to de-stigmatize IBS and stomach issues in general. Which they’ve executed on so far with bright packaging, bubbly messaging, and even a hot pink billboard in Los Angeles that said
“Hot Girls Have IBS”
They’ll also soon be launching a few exclusive partnerships with celebrities who have also dealt with IBS. belliwelli currently has 5 flavors and launches 2 limited edition flavors a quarter based on feedback from their community… With the potential for them to become part of the entire portfolio if they perform well.
belliwelli recently raised a $15M Series A round led by The Invus Group.Be prepared to watch belliwelli become “the” low FODMAP and IBS brand of the future 👀
Which currently isn’t well understood as to what causes it and what can be done to “heal” it…
Other than something called the low FODMAP diet, which was created by Monash University in Australia. FODMAPs are short chain carbohydrates that are poorly digested (eg, onions, garlic, apples, cauliflower, peaches, almonds)
The interesting thing about the low FODMAP diet is that it’s not always a black and white “yes or no” when it comes to specific foods. Usually it’s a threshold in terms of volume. Which can make it very difficult to follow as a consumer. Since most packaged foods and aisles in the grocery store don’t suite this population well.
Katie Wilson founded belliwelli with her husband to solve this problem after personally suffering from IBS and having 0 luck finding options that aligned with her dietary needs (& still tasted great)
belliwelli is the first soft baked, low FODMAP snack bar with probiotics to go to market. They’re free of gluten, dairy, and sugar alcohols too.
The bars were actually born out of accident. Katie was missing chocolate chip cookies, which were nearly impossible to consume under her new diet plan. Fortunately, her husband decided to hire a food scientist to crack the code on the perfect low FODMAP cookie recipe. Once they landed on it, Katie was so in love, she bought a bar mold and started using it to take her cookies on the go.
From here, Katie started a Facebook group to connect with others dealing with IBS so she didn’t have to feel so alone in her journey. And later used this community to incubate belliwelli as a brand. They choose the name of the company, all the bar flavors, ingredient lineup, and more.
But the bars are really just the beginning for Katie and her team. They’re on a mission to de-stigmatize IBS and stomach issues in general. Which they’ve executed on so far with bright packaging, bubbly messaging, and even a hot pink billboard in Los Angeles that said
“Hot Girls Have IBS”
They’ll also soon be launching a few exclusive partnerships with celebrities who have also dealt with IBS. belliwelli currently has 5 flavors and launches 2 limited edition flavors a quarter based on feedback from their community… With the potential for them to become part of the entire portfolio if they perform well.
belliwelli recently raised a $15M Series A round led by The Invus Group.Be prepared to watch belliwelli become “the” low FODMAP and IBS brand of the future 👀
