Due to go live in May, Honest Eats will launch with 500 products sourced from food manufacturers across Europe. The product range will cater to a wide range of intolerances including gluten, wheat, lactose, egg and nuts.
Brands the site is working with include Spanish convenience food supplier Food Vac, whose line-up includes gluten-free desserts, and Italian pasta maker Farabella. Further brands will be announced closer to launch, Honest Eats told BakeryAndSnacks this week.
The business has been developed by Sussex-based Lisa Costello, Paul Jemetta and Luciano Censorii, who said they had identified a gap in the market through personal experiences with food intolerances. The trio are personally financing the start-up.
New and unique flavors
“Consumers in the UK are crying out for a wide variety of free-from foods that taste as good as the standard alternatives,” said Costello. “In Italy and across Europe, there are many exciting products that are not widely available in the UK but deliver new and unique flavors that we do not often associate with free-from food.”
Delivery, which will be made via a courier service, will be £6.99 ($10.16) for orders under £35 ($50.87), and free for orders above that amount. Customers who sign up to the service before April 30 will receive 25% off their first order.
Sales to trade customers
While the business will be focused on selling direct to consumers, selected products from the range will be available to trade customers.
The founders have said Honest Eats will have a strong social media presence, and the business will be exhibiting at the BBC Good Food Show in Harrogate in April.
Valued at £365m ($530m), the UK free-from food market is forecast to grow by 50% by 2019 according to 2015 Mintel report Trends & Opportunities in the Growing Market for Gluten-free Foods.