Industry analysts continue to forecast growth for gluten-free foods into the foreseeable future. The number of US consumers diagnosed with celiac disease remains an estimated 1% of the population, but many cases likely go undiagnosed. However, it’s non-celiacs—often self-diagnosed with gluten sensitivity—driving market growth of gluten-free.
Beyond the elimination of gluten-containing ingredients like wheat flour, product variables contributing to the growth of gluten-free foods like snacks include clear, simplified, “clean” ingredient statements, often with “free-from” designations on the label to indicate the product is free from dairy, soy, preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, or another ingredient of concern for certain shopper demographics.
Gluten-free snacks based on nutrient-dense ingredients—including those that contribute protein and fiber, like nuts—show particular promise in today’s market. The nutritional snacks and trail mixes category is now valued at $1.9 billion, per Circana (as reported by sister publication Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery in its 2026 “Nuts & Snack Mixes” State of the Industry report). Snack mixes, often prominently featuring nuts and dried fruit, are a go-to option for consumers seeking meaningful, intentional nutrition in their daily snack options.
Image courtesy of BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery
BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery, a gluten-free snack brand with national distribution through Costco and other grocers, coffee shops, and airports, derived its name from the notion that people can “be free” from highly processed foods and ingredients. The snacks, such as its Warrior Snack Mix clusters and Warrior Granola Cookie Bites, feature whole-food ingredients like almonds, pecans, coconut, oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cranberries, and honey.
Prepared Foods recently met with Jennifer Wiese, founder & owner of BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery, to learn more about her “gluten-free snack brand with a mission.” Her family journey took an unexpected turn several years ago when her son was diagnosed on the autism spectrum, and also would need to begin following a gluten-free diet. Determined to support him in every possible way, the family embraced a gluten-free lifestyle, believing it could offer him comfort and relief.
Unsatisfied with the available options, Wiese experimented with making her own gluten-free snacks, first just for the family, and then expanding to sale at the local farmers’ market. Encouraged by the reception, the next step was to secure local shelf space. Before long, the momentum snowballed, and BeeFree snack distribution expanded to include Coscto as a customer. Today, BeeFree has broadly diversified nationwide distribution through grocery stores, coffee shops, and airports. The following is an edited version of the interview.
Prepared Foods: Please tell us about the early days when you were first establishing BeeFree as a cottage industry brand.
Jennifer Wiese: Looking back now on those early days, I would probably not have imagined that they would be some of my favorites… I don’t come from a background in food manufacturing or food production. I am first a mom on a mission to take care of my family… It all relates to a promise that I made to my son when he was born to be the best mom I could and to provide the best possible life for him. And that really related to looking at “food as medicine” for him.
In those early days, around 2007 and 2008, gluten-free certainly was not what it is today. We didn’t have special sections in the grocery store for gluten-free foods. We didn’t have special menus in restaurants… Things were very different and it was more difficult to lead a gluten-free lifestyle… At each step of the way, we figured things out. We made a way for ourselves and, most importantly, for other families that were struggling, and were able to build a brand that people can have access to all over the country.
Prepared Foods: What is different/unique about BeeFree product formulations?
Jennifer Wiese: From day one, we really focused on pure, simple ingredients—things that you could identify. You knew where they came from, that you could pronounce. And that’s really what we based our gluten-free food company on.
Fast-forward to today, that’s really played out very well for us, because we don’t have to remove seed oils or “junky” ingredients that have a way of sneaking into manufactured foods. That is one way that we are different—in the quality, nutrient-dense ingredients that we chose.
Taste has always been super important to us, as well. One of the ways that I tested our products and our new flavors in the early days was with our sons. I would wait until a day that was really busy in our house, and I would make some snacks, set them out, see what disappeared, and listen to some of the comments that they (mostly teenagers) were saying about the food.
Now we listen to our customers. We have the most incredible customers that really love to share with us. They’ll tell us what they want, what they don’t want, and how we should do it. That is really valuable.
We’ve had the privilege to do Costco roadshows, customer-facing demos, over the years. And that is so valuable in learning what today’s consumer wants. We just try to be good listeners… We try to follow what’s happening in the media and the rest of the world, too, as far as flavor trends. We read journals and attend conferences. But the best interaction is with our customers. There’s a lot of strength in those relationships, and the back-and-forth of building that through time.
Prepared Foods: What is the background behind your company’s foundation, BeeFree Bakes?
Jennifer Wiese: When our son was looking for his first job, we got a front row seat to some of the extra challenges that are around people with autism and other disabilities in the workplace, specifically the interview process, the training process, and everything that leads up to getting a job, and then—most importantly—keeping that job. There were just a lot of different layers. We saw that the way the systems are built in most conventional places of work really didn’t speak to our son.
We realized that he’s not alone. There are many others similar to him that have special needs, and they have a lot to offer. One of the things that has always been really important to me as a mom and to us as a family is inclusion. It’s one of the reasons we went gluten-free as an entire family so that no one would feel left out.
Inclusion is super important to us, but it also strengthens communities. We’re really focused on what are we doing in our own community to help build others up, to give opportunities and job training to young adults with autism so that they can live a meaningful life, earn a paycheck, contribute to the community, and have their own dreams just like the rest of us.
So, we created a foundation for our “Warriors at Work” autism job training program. We formalized it a little over a year ago. Prior to that, we had been testing our models and methods for years behind closed doors.
We’re honored to be supported by our community and the State of Indiana. Lots of others have come alongside us, to help support us and build us up. We’re really just getting started. We’re super excited about the impact that we’re making, not only in just our little town of Noblesville, IN, but how that can spread, how that can have a chain reaction in other communities. One of the reasons we have our little blue “Autism Jobs Provider” logo on the front of all of our packages is so that people can connect with us and hopefully be inspired by what we’re doing, and maybe it will resonate with their community, to do something similar.
Image courtesy of BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery
Prepared Foods: What are your biggest challenges as an independent, upstart snack company?
Jennifer Wiese: There are so many. I mean, you think about our snack company, so teeny and tiny, but we’re right there next to Planters Peanuts, who has a massive marketing budget.
One of the bigger challenges I’ve had is getting off the bottom shelf … getting a retailer to believe in us and give us a chance in a more visible location and allowing us to participate in promotions and other avenues that allow us to gain the attention of the shopper when there are so many different choices.
Prepared Foods: What’s next for BeeFree?
Jennifer Wiese: I have a head full of products that I would like to bring to market. Some of those are additional flavors of the products that we’ve already brought to market. People love variety. And once they fall in love with something, they like a variety of flavors to choose from. We will continue to add more flavors of our Warrior Snack Mix.
Granola Cookie Bites is new and has made its way to a couple of Costco regions. We’ve tested those in very recognizable flavors like Chocolate Brownie and Cinnamon Pecan. But there’s a variety of other flavor profiles that we’d like to bring to market, as well.
We have individual, single-serving portioned snacks as well, like our little mini bars. We have two flavors, but there’s a lot of other flavors in the mini bar assortment that we would like to bring to market.
We try to be good listeners to what our customers are asking us for and give them what they want. But we will remain true to our original roots, which are gluten-free, simple ingredients that you can identify that feed your body and your soul.
Listen to the complete discussion with Jennifer Wiese, founder & owner, BeeFree here:
Growing an Independent Gluten-Free Snack Brand
New food and beverage brands often face an uphill climb toward national distribution. In this episode, Jennifer Wiese, founder/owner of BeeFree, talks about her brand journey from cottage industry upstart to a national brand carried by Costco and other retailers.
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