Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne
Genius Foods was born out of Bruce-Gardyne’s need to provide tasty gluten-free bread for her son, who had been diagnosed as gluten intolerant. After failing to find any decent products for sale, she decided to create something herself. In 2009 Genius bread hit the supermarket shelves.
Today, not only is the company selling more than 1M loaves a year in the UK, Genius is making inroads to sell baguettes to the French. “We’re already selling gluten-free brioche to the French, as well as croissants and pain au chocolat,” she told Food Manufacture. She is also endeavouring to make gluten-free products healthier by reducing their fat, salt and sugar content.
Last year, Bruce-Gardyne reported that Genius Foods had a £40M turnover, 73% year-on-year growth, 450 staff and had 20 products on the market, with more being launched this year. She claimed to have 52% of the gluten-free bread market.
Today, Bruce-Gardyne splits her time between overseeing the development of more Genius products and talking directly to coeliacs and others who want to learn more about the benefit of adopting a gluten-free diet.