Fodilicious is an innovative and award-winning health food business based in Livingston, Scotland, producing the UK’s first low FODMAP certified products for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) with a focus on gut health. Their portfolio of products consisted of snacks; Cookie Buttons and a Breakfast granola range – all of which are vegan, free from allergens and healthier choice options too.
Lauren Leisk founded the company in 2017 in response to her own frustration at the lack of foods available for individuals suffering from IBS and following a low FODMAP diet. As a QMU graduate, Lauren reached out to the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation (SCFDI) to create a collection of FODMAP friendly energy drinks – a World’s first range – as Fodilicious identified the demand for natural energy drinks that complied IBS.
Through the support of an Advanced innovation voucher to assist with recipe development and consumer testing, the SCFDI team created three flavours; Tropical with a turmeric infusion, Raspberry with a hibiscus infusion and Clementine with a ginger infusion, and provided nutrition information, labelling information and ingredient costings for all formulations. The project also included consumer testing to provide Fodilicious with data to help with marketing and expanding distributor lists. The collection of drinks launched on the Fodilicious website shortly after completion of the project.
"The team at SCFDI were fantastic throughout our project, and their in-depth knowledge and expertise of recipe formulation, nutrition and consumer testing was essential in order for Fodilicious to successfully launch this range. We had a specific brief in mind, as there were no natural energy drinks available that followed the low FODMAP diet restrictions for IBS. As drinks are a new product category for Fodilicious, SCFDI really helped us to understand what’s involved in entering this sector, how drinks are formulated, and now we have 3 delicious flavours, all which meet our criteria and are very innovative. We would highly recommend SCFDI to any business who is looking to expand their portfolio of products or break into new product categories to help their innovative product ideas come to life."
- The Brief
- The Research
- The Outcome
- The Impact
In the UK around 20% of the population have a condition known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), following a low FODMAP diet can significantly reduce IBS symptoms. In the UK there is a lack of low FODMAP convenience food and drinks. Fodilicious desired to create a collection of natural energising drinks suitable for IBS sufferers as many standard soft drinks and caffeinated energy drinks are unsuitable for IBS sufferers. The criteria for the drinks were; low FODMAP, caffeine free, no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, allergen free and vegan. The end product should be only gently sparking to avoid digestive distress. Fodilicious are a sustainable business so developing a recipe suitable for 100% recyclable packaging was also essential.
Our experienced team of product development technologists at the SCFDI researched and sourced FODMAP friendly ingredients. Prototypes were created and reviewed by Fodilicious to create the ideal formulations. The drinks contained a bespoke blend of vitamins and minerals to provide energy to consumers due to tiredness being a common symptom of IBS. The SCFDI advised the drinks should be packaged in aluminium cans to meet the 100% recyclable target and maintain the gently sparkling carbonation.
The final formulations achieved “FODMAP friendly” TM certification and were all caffeine free, allergen free, vegan and free from added sugar and synthetic sweeteners. The SCFDI provided nutrition and ingredient information for labelling and provided a list of health claims to be used on labelling and marketing campaigns. A consumer panel was carried out in the sensory suite based at Queen Margaret University on regular consumers of energy drinks. Panellists tasted the product blind and provided feedback and opinions of each formulation. This provided Fodilicious with supplementary evidence to use for marketing and to display consumer’s opinions to potential distributors.
The three flavours of low FODMAP energy drinks; clementine & ginger, raspberry & hibiscus and tropical were launched in the planned timescale, shortly after the project was complete. The project helped develop three new products to add to the Fodilicious range of FODMAP friendly project and create the world’s first low FODMAP energy drinks which are now available at Fodilicious.com.
