Our story 📚

😮 Diagnosed with coeliac disease

In 2019, Phili was unexpectedly diagnosed with coeliac disease - which was quite scary, especially because it was something neither of us had ever heard of! We quickly scrambled to learn everything we could as Phili started a strict gluten free diet.

It became quite obvious that so many of the things we took for granted and enjoyed doing weren't going to be as easy as they used to be, especially eating out. Ranveer was doing his best to be a supportive partner, and having worked in the tech industry for many years, he couldn't help but think that the world of gluten free seemed to be stuck in the dark ages...

On top of this, so much of the advice and information was all doom and gloom, "you can't do this, you can't do that", where was the guide to gluten free good times?

🦠 Prototyping & a pandemic

Ranveer started tinkering with the idea of creating an online platform for gluten free, with a focus on helping people to search, discover and review restaurants to eat out with confidence.

He built a website describing the "guide to gluten free good times" and a "soon to be launched" platform and sent it to Phili, pretending that he'd found it online to get an honest opinion... she loved it and immediately joined the the fake waiting list!

Phili's excitement for the platform was infectious, and we both believed that it had the potential to help thousands of people, so we decided to start building a prototype.

What could stop us eh? Hmm maybe a global pandemic...

🏆 Funded by Innovate UK

We weren't going to give up that easily though! And how could we when so many people wanted and needed help?

In 2023, Ranveer applied to Innovate UK, the United Kingdom's innovation agency, and successfully secured government grant funding and support to build the platform - this gave us a huge boost and suddenly the idea was back on track!

We took time to speak with lots of people living gluten free, understanding what they really needed help with and how we could build something that would make a real difference. From this it became clear that there was a huge need for help with a broad range of topics, from everyday living and eating out to shopping and travel...

Towards the end of 2023, we started to post tips, guides and advice on some of these topics on our social media and blog, and the response was overwhelming! People loved it and we realised that we could do so much more than just help with eating out!

👋 Quit our jobs

With a little bit of grant funding in our pockets and a whole lot of love from the gluten free community, we made the big decision to quit our jobs and focus on building Gluten Free Glee full-time.

Crazy right? But we wanted to make a difference and help as many people as possible - which was going to be a lot harder if we were working 9-5 jobs.

The feedback we'd gotten had taught us a lot and we made a plan to release a number of helpful tools and resources throughout 2024.

🎉 Our first launch

• ✅ Launched the Gluten Free Directory
• ✅ Launched FREE translation cards
• ✅ Promoted coeliac disease awareness in national news

In May, we marked coeliac awareness month by launching the Gluten Free Directory - a search engine designed to help you find great gluten free brands, products & services, as well as FREE Translation Cards to help you communicate on your travels - including versions you can add straight to your Apple Wallet!

To top it off, we were really proud to have secured multiple pieces of national media coverage to help raise awareness of coeliac disease and the gluten free community - like this article in the Daily Express. We also did TWO live BBC Radio interviews - I guess we must have faces for radio?!

🎁 Launched Gluten Free Offers

The response to the Gluten Free Directory was amazing and we were thrilled to see so many people using it to find great gluten free brands, products & services. But how could we take it to the next level?

Well, we started working with our fantastic partner brands and businesses to get EXCLUSIVE discounts on the best gluten free products...

In August we added a new Offers page to the Gluten Free Directory to showcase these amazing deals and discounts all in one place. From 20% off & free delivery to taster boxes & discounted bundles, there are so many savings to take advantage of!

📆 Launched Gluten Free Events

You might have thought that after launching Gluten Free Offers that we'd be taking it easy - well think again! There's no rest for the wicked, and how can there be when there are so many incredible gluten free events happening that people need to know about?! 😱

In September we added a new Events page to the Gluten Free Directory, it's the go-to calendar for amazing events happening all across the country. Whether you're into food markets 🎪 book clubs 📚 pizza parties 🍕 or cooking classes 👩🏻‍🍳 there really is something for everyone!

👀 Watch this space...

So I guess you could say it's been a pretty busy year! And you might be wondering what's next?

Well we've got some pretty exciting things planned, but we're not quite ready to tell you just yet... Sorry!

If you'd like to be the first to know when we annouce our next big thing, sign up for our email newsletter and make sure to follow us on social media! 👇