Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say. The need to solve a problem drives many of us to act. When the problem affects the ones we love, there is an innate drive to act now and without question. That is how Leah Lopez’ story begins, with a problem – a wellness problem. Lucky for us, her sweet story ends with an array of delicious delights!
“My husband and I are truly blessed to have such wonderful, diverse boys. My first-born represents the typical type-A personality while our younger son, Gabriel, is observant and reserved. When the boys started school, we really began to notice the differences between them. Gabriel’s speed of learning was not quite at the pace of his older brother; however, differences of this type are normal, right? We are of the school of thought that each child is an individual and each has different learning styles. In reality, “This was only pre-school.” As the school year progressed, Gabriel became less engaged and was not connecting with his classmates or teachers. As you would expect, my husband and I became concerned with Gabriel’s interactions (or lack thereof), speech development and overall progress at school. As we discussed the situation, we decided to pursue a solution or, at the very least, have an understanding as to what was driving this behavior.
After many late nights of discussions and marathon internet searches, we began to learn about the seriousness of food allergies, including gluten. Gluten is in seemingly everything: bread, cupcakes, cookies, crackers, cereal, chips, etc. The severity of gluten spectrum disorders ranges from mild sensitivities to celiac disease.
The fact is, food allergies, sensitivities and intolerances affect a large part of our population. Today, many research studies indicate that 1 in 4 Americans are said to suffer from food intolerances. The food intolerance growth rate has been 18% from 1997 to 2007. Six of the top eight most common food allergies are wheat, milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and soy.
The experts believe that there are many drivers impacting the growth of these trends. Prevalence rates are expected to increase as more folks begin to engage in their health and clinicians begin to diagnose food sensitivities correctly. As public policy continues to be drafted that strives to improve the health of populations, there will be new, innovative organizations that solve for the need of personalized wellness programs that drive healthier communities.
After endless research and a consult with our pediatrician, we agreed to eliminate gluten from his diet immediately and schedule a full allergy panel testing.
Gabriel was not at all too happy with a gluten-free diet. As with any kid (or adult, for that matter) his favorite treats were full of gluten!
The next week after picking him up at pre-school his teacher asked if she could speak to me about his behavior. “What has changed at home?,”she asked. This took me by surprise and before I could respond, she began to talk about how “engaged” Gabriel was, how his speech was improved and no longer garbled. She was glowing as she continued to describe his interaction and overall improvements. After receiving this wonderful news from his teacher, I informed her of his gluten-free diet and of our plan for further allergy testing.
We soon discovered that Gabriel had many more allergies including anaphylactic allergies to milk and eggs. Our challenge of finding products that excluded gluten, dairy and eggs was next to impossible. It seemed we could find no single solution to address his multiple allergies while still allowing Gabriel to enjoy wonderful treats and experiences with his friend and families..
With the necessity to create a solution for Gabriel, Better Bites Bakery was formed.
We at Better Bites Bakery believe that everyone should be able to maintain wellness without having to sacrifice the little joys in life. Our mission is to bake up tasty, delightful treats with special dietary needs and high food standards in mind. Over the last two years we have impacted many lives and families in Austin.
You may know us for our Mostess cupcakes, Better brownies, or variety of cakeballs that we currently provide at Peoples. We are always gluten-free, dairy-free and often vegan!
In our short history, we at Better Bites Bakery have many things to be thankful for: our customers (our “families”) and our like-minded innovative partners like Peoples.
We recently opened up a gluten-free certified kitchen right here in Austin, Texas and are extremely excited to be providing our customers certified gluten-free products. We look forward to increasing our product offerings as we now have expanded capabilities and capacity! The Better Bites Bakery commitment to our customers is to create products that have All the taste without the worry!