Prebiotic snacks with belly benefits
Wellness brand BelliWelli has won a listing in 1,554 Target stores across the US for its best-selling flavours Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate and Chocolate Chip.
Recognised as the ‘second brain’, the gut has a profound influence on our entire body, impacting everything from our skin to mood. Furthermore, roughly 72% of adults grapple with digestive issues with women being 2x as likely as men. Despite all this, gut health is still not prioritised or given enough attention on shelves.
Guided by a mission to improve gut health, BelliWelli has established itself as a leader in the $280bn functional food space. By helping women eat better and feel better, the brand is helping improve the lives of hundreds of millions - and that is just scratching the surface.
On 17 September, BelliWelli’s wellness snacks will be available nationwide, tapping into this underserved segment in an effort to make gut health mainstream. This news follows BelliWelli’s rapid retail expansion into over 1,000 new doors, including Sprouts, H-E-B, Kings, Fresh Thyme, Hungry Root and more.
The brand’s gluten-free, dairy-free, low-sugar and low FODMAP baked snack bars has seen the company increase tenfold since launching in 2021, with $15.4 million raised in a Series A round earlier this year.
Relatable marketing is at the heart of BelliWelli’s ethos, evident in the 40% jump in sales in over a million impressions to its site in just two weeks when it deployed its ‘Hot girls have IBS’ out-of-home billboard campaign last year. Gut health is also gaining attention on social platforms like TikTok, a trend that BelliWelli is tapping into, spending 20% of its annual ad budget on influencer marketing.
“Using humour to kind of make the message stick and make it more digestible for a lot of audiences is really clever,” cofounder and CEO Katie Wilson told Modern Retail.
“It’s taking a really refreshing approach to women’s gut health.
“When you’re a consumer faced with 120 different bar options in the bar aisle, you’re probably more likely to choose the one that you have a personal connection to.”
