Diabetes is the fastest growing chronic condition in Australia, with one in four adults (1.8 million) over the age of 25 living with it. Type 1 affects 8% of everyone with diabetes, while Type 2 diabetes affects about 90%.

This includes 1.3 million people who have been diagnosed and an estimated 500,000 cases of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. One in four adults (1.8 million) over the age of 25 is living with it, and diabetes costs the Australian economy $14 billion every year.

Type 2 diabetes represents 85 to 90 per these cases which can be delayed or prevented with changes to diet and lifestyle, and when injury forced 29-year-old Keira Rumble to give up professional skiing she was diagnosed with pre-diabetes (Type 2) after 25 kilos had crept up on her scales.

Keira was shocked to discover protein balls, the ‘healthy’ snacks she had been enjoying both pre-and post-work-out, were full of sugar, containing the equivalent of two cinnamon doughnuts – and began looking for healthier alternatives.

When she couldn’t find any,  she decided to make her own high protein, low carb, low sugar protein balls, calling Krumballs, and sold them to local cafes. From there, her nutrition company, Krumbled Foods, was born.

Keira’s nutrition studies sparked an interest in collagen, which the body produces less of once we reach our late 20s, leading to wrinkles, brittle nails, and thinning hair. Through her research she saw another gap in the market – edible collagen – and Beauty Bites was born.

The bars are Australia’s only edible collagen snack bars, containing 3800mg of Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides and 97% of the RDI of Vitamin C (essential for collagen synthesis) to kickstart your body’s skin repair process for glowing skin from the inside out. They also include antioxidants, prebiotics and probiotics.

Now a certified nutrition and wellness advisor, Keira sold a year’s supply of Beauty Bites within the first three weeks online, catching the attention of Coles and Priceline, where they are now stocked.

As a result, Keira was hand-picked as the Australian recipient of this year's Sephora Accelerate Program earlier this year,  which scouts female founders in the wellness genre, providing grant money and mentoring, and connecting them with investors.

The E=edible collagen industry is booming. A research report by Global Market Insights believes the Global Collagen hydrolysate market revenue is projected to exceed $1 billion by 2026, and the latest scientific research listed below shows oral intake of specific bioactive collagen peptides reduces skin wrinkles and improved skin elasticity.

These are the results on three double blind trials for edible bovine collagen:

Krumbled Foods

Beauty Bites ,

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23949208/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24401291/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26840887/