6 Keto Certified Brands to Watch

2017 and 2018 were the year of the Keto Diet.  According to keto diet market trends, the health and weight loss benefits of the ketogenic diet are the major factors driving its growth, occurring at a time when consumers are questioning the roles refined carbohydrates and fat play in weight loss and disease management.  The rising awareness among consumers regarding the benefits associated with the keto diet is driving the increasing demand for keto-friendly, convenient, and high-quality foods that is credited with driving the overall keto diet market.  But some products are simply ahead of the keto growth trend.  These 6 Keto Certified Brands are already making waves in the burgeoning keto diet product trend. 

Dang Bar

Dang Foods, founded by Forbes 30 Under 30 alum Vincent and Andrew Kitirattragarn launched a new line of keto products, the plant-based Keto Certified Dang Bar to meet the growing keto market trend. Vincent Kitirattragarn tells Project Nosh:  “Keto is on fire right now, garnering more interest than Paleo and Whole30 because the benefits are clear: mental acuity, sustained energy, and reduced appetite,” said Dang Founder Vincent Kitirattragarn. “We did the research and couldn’t find good-tasting keto snacks, so we decided to make Dang Bar using whole ingredients. We pride ourselves on creating delicious snacks with Asian flavors and ingredients and Dang Bar is no exception.”

Originally called the FATBAR,   Dang Bars contain have no added sugar, are plant-based, grain-free and Keto Certified, with 10 g of protein, 15 g of fat and 4-to-5 g of net carbs.  Currently, Dang Bars are available in three flavors: almond vanilla, lemon matcha, and chocolate sea salt launching nationwide in Whole Foods January 2019.  Additional bars Cardamom Chai, Toasted Coconut, and Saigon Cinnamon Chocolate will arrive in February 2019. 

Phat Fudge

Phat Phudge™ is a paleo, high fat, organic, keto-focused performance fudge made by PaleoChef fame Mary Shenouda, and was designed as a solution to sugary performance foods and drinks on the market.  The health-conscious, paleo-friendly, Keto Certified product has been featured several times on the Joe Rogan podcast and is often given glowing posts by Hollywood Celebrities on social media platforms. 

One popular way that Phat Fudge’s cult-like following (in a good way) enjoys the product is blended to create an upgraded superfood coffee called Unicorn Fuel. However, Phat Fudge is incredibly versatile and was formulated with a level of quality and care that differs from many other keto and butter-based products on the market.  Appealing to the growing ‘clean’ and ‘free-from’ consumers, all of the ingredients in Phat Fudge are organic, and include Grass-fed Butter, as well as superfoods Tahini, Cacao, Coffee, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Maca, Raw Honey, Vanilla, and Cayenne. 

Further, other flavors in the Phat Fudge line were skillfully formulated to offer ketogenic diet products to the growing demands of the vegan consumer base—an area which is largely untapped by manufacturers of keto diet products. 

Primal Kitchen Foods

Perhaps best known for their avocado oil mayo, Primal Kitchen Foods recently signed a deal to be acquired by food behemoth Kraft Heinz for a cool $200 million according to Bloomberg. While Primal Kitchen was a lucrative brand that expected to generate over $50 million in sales online and in natural retailers, another potential driver behind this acquisition by Kraft Heinz is likely due to the fact that Primal Kitchen comes with the added bonus of a ‘health halo’.   

Primal Kitchen Foods, the ‘free-from’, Certified Paleo, Certified Keto, Whole30 Approved, Organic, and generally, better-for-you brand that focuses on condiments, sauces, and snacks have always been deeply couched in ketogenic diet principles.   The image and trust signaling offered by Primal Kitchen Foods gives the struggling corporate giant a facelift to help its own image in the era of the conscientious consumer.  And while this acquisition has frightened many loyal consumers of the Primal Kitchen brand, it should be reasoned that Kraft Heinz’s need to improve their image should safeguard the quality of the Primal Kitchen products.

4th and Heart Ghee

Raquel Tavares Gunsagar launched her company, Fourth & Heart Ghee in 2015 as an alternative to butter just as consumer demand for ketogenic diet products first began to grow legs.  After showing at the largest consumer products expo worldwide, Expo West, in 2015,  Fourth & Heart Ghee received investor attention and later secured a deal with leading organic and natural foods distributor, UNFI. 

“I had an idea and I didn’t know how fast it was going to take off,” says Tavares, who was initially surprised by how quickly her product was picked up by retailers. “We were in a small category and the idea was just starting to trend.”  One year from their launch, the ghee producer closed a $1 million Series A investment and did $2.2 million in revenue in 2016 according to Forbes.  As of 2017, Fourth & Heart ghee is now sold in over 6,000 retail stores, including MULO chains like Krogers, Whole Foods, Target, and Central Market. 

Of note, Fourth & Heart ghee focused on high-quality, grass-fed and sustainable ghee that came in a variety of flavors which put a new twist on an old traditional staple.  These commitments to quality and ingenuity in her products is likely what helped her to engage not only the growing keto consumer base but the conscientious consumer that is hungry for greater quality products. 

Caveman Coffee Co

When Jimmy Fallon handed the actress Shailene Woodley a mug of coffee blended with butter on “The Tonight Show,” she didn’t recoil in disgust and instead exclaimed to the audience:  “It will change your life!”  According to Jimmy Fallon, “It’s the most delicious thing ever, but it’s actually good for you. It’s good for your brain.”  Inside of that cup of coffee was two tablespoons of grass-fed butter, and two tablespoons of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) oil, an important type of fat that is in the arsenal of almost every ketogenic dieter’s regime. 

Caveman Coffee Co founders are no strangers to the health-food and performance world, they are the legendary Tait Fletcher, Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine of MMA fame, and Lacie Mackey the professional stunt trainer behind Black Ops production. Their coffees and keto friendly staple products have enjoyed raving reviews from celebrities like Joe Rogan and Russell Brand. 

But Caveman Coffee Co has also gone well beyond just creating Keto-certified products like MCT oil.  The Caveman Coffee Co coffees are Rainforest Alliance Certified, and they produced the world’s first 100% compostable coffee pods made for Keurig.  Further, they have promoted environmental responsibility calling on the removal of palm-derived MCT in favor of MCT sourced from sustainably-derived coconuts.  Their commitment to producing high-quality products and garnering the trust of the conscientious, clean label consumer has likely helped them become the go-to brand of paleo and keto dieters, alike. 

4505 Chicharrones

There are pork rinds, and then there are 4505 Chicharrones and Cracklins.   They have become a nationwide seller among natural retail giants like Whole Foods, World Market, Safeway and Amazon, and are a huge hit among keto dieters for their melt-in-your-mouth flavors and as a zero-carb snack. While these are all important qualities, they are also one of the highest-quality pork rind producers in existence (we should know). 

Historically, the pork rinds category has been viewed as unhealthy.  However, chef and butcher Ryan Farr founded 4505 Meats in 2009, endeavoring to capitalize on the convenience aisle by offering a better-for-you brand of pork cracklins and pork chicharrones. By using the higher quality, sustainably raised meat from ranchers known for their husbandry practices, he was able to produce world-class products to meet the demand of the growing conscientious consumer.  This long-overdue overhaul to the pork rind category helped 4505 close an amount from CircleUp, an investment marketplace that uses artificial intelligence to evaluate the hottest retail products with the best chances of success. 

It’s no wonder that the New York Times named these 4505 Chicharron flavors: smokehouse BBQ, Classic Chili & Salt,  and Jalapeno Cheddar, and the 4505 Cracklins flavors are Sea Salt, and Spicy Green Chili & Lime— your go-to Superbowl Snack.