Credit: Srsly Low Carb / Facebook
Srsly Low Carb is a UK-based maker of low-carbohydrate bread, pasta, noodles and pizzas. Founder Andy Welch started the business in 2019 as a ketogenic-friendly company.
The ketogenic diet ultimately involves consuming minimal carbohydrates and a high amount of fats to keep blood glucose levels low. The liver then produces what are called ketones – a type of chemical – which the body uses in the absence of glucose, in much the same way as fasting. When ketones accumulate in the blood by burning fats for energy instead of glucose, the individual is said to enter a state of ketosis.
Keto diets have received a fair amount of criticism in recent years but they are followed as a complementary therapy for a host of health afflictions, primarily high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as diabetes or prediabetes.
Welch spoke to Just Food to discuss the benefits of a keto diet, how those suffering with diabetes can benefit from Srsly’s low-carb products and the issues with ultra-processed foods.
Just Food: What inspired you to set up Srsly?
Andy Welch: I knew nothing about it beforehand. All the industries I’ve worked in before, none of them have ever been food and drink. They’ve been engineering, trade, sort of things like that. Keto is avoiding the carbs, which is a real strict approach with carb-less alternatives. So, you could make your own bread, make your own pasta, make your own things, and all of it was pretty disgusting. I can’t bake or anything so whilst I was doing it, I just had that mindset of: I wonder if I could commercialise this? That’s kind of the premise of where it came about and, after a few attempts, that’s how we’ve got the company up and running.
JF: What sort of consumer were you targeting?
AW: People were trying our food for two key reasons. Number one was weight loss and number two was around managing…