Udi’s Healthy Foods is a brand of

gluten-free A gluten-free diet (GFD) is a nutritional plan that strictly excludes gluten, which is a mixture of proteins found in wheat (and all of its species and hybrids, such as spelt, kamut, and triticale), as well as barley, rye, and oats. The inclus ...

food owned by

Conagra Brands Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American Fast-moving consumer goods, consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in ...

History

Udi's started as a group of

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

s in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, owned by Udi Baron. Baron's first cafe was called Udi the Sandwich Man, which opened in 1994. In 2008, Baron teamed with a gluten-free baker and started producing gluten free products. The pair focused on the 10% of Americans that are either gluten intolerant or have

celiac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barl ...

, knowing that typical gluten-free products on the market "tasted terrible". The market was worth $1.6 billion at the time. Retailers initially rejected gluten-free products, seeing them as a "fad"; the market has since grown to $4.2 billion annually. Sales of Udi's reached $60 million in 2012, and the brand was purchased by

Boulder Brands Boulder Brands is an American food company based in Boulder, Colorado. It used to be known as Smart Balance. The company traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol BDBD. The company's brands include Smart Balance, Udi's, Glutino, Earth Balance, EVOL ...

for $125 million in 2013. Some locations of

Smashburger Smashburger IP Holder LLC, doing business as Smashburger, (stylized as SmasHBURGER), is an American fast-casual hamburger restaurant chain founded in Denver, Colorado. As of 2022, it has more than 227 corporate and franchise-owned restaurants in ...

first offered the Udi's gluten-free bun. In 2016

Pinnacle Foods Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018. History The company was foun ...

purchased Boulder Brands. Two years later,

bought Pinnacle Foods in order to expand their frozen foods line. Conagra Brands is the current owner of the Udi's product line. It supplies Udi's brand products to many grocery stores and restaurants.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Udi's Healthy Foods Gluten-free diet Bakeries of the United States Products introduced in 2008 Conagra Brands brands Food and drink companies established in 2008 Companies based in Denver 2008 establishments in Colorado 2013 mergers and acquisitions