Quick Update From Happy Tummy Baking Company

Happy Tummy Baking Company is now available at the new North Raleigh Whole Foods. Happy Tummy's crusts, in addition to being gluten-free, do not contain yeast or any of the 8 major allergens.

The product is 12" round and can also be found in the freezer section at the Raleigh Wade Ave, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill Whole Foods.

Maria Hopper
Happy Tummy Baking Company

Quick Update From Happy Tummy Baking Company

Happy Tummy Baking Company is offering a 10% discount on all pizza crusts sold at Whole Foods now through April 12th. The discounted price is $6.29/ crust. Happy Tummy's crusts, in addition to being gluten-free, do not contain yeast or any of the 8 major allergens.

The product is 12" round and can be found in the freezer at the Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill Whole Foods. It is available by request (temporarily not on display in the freezer but they have a supply in the back) at the Wade Ave. Raleigh Whole Foods. Not available yet at the new North Raleigh store.

Try it while it's on sale for a quick, easy meal and satisfy your pizza cravings!

Maria Hopper
Happy Tummy Baking Company

Happy Tummy Baking Company Expansion

Just wanted to post a quick update about Raleigh based Happy Tummy Baking Company. I was recently informed by owner Maria Hopper that the company's Gluten Free, allergen free frozen pizza crusts are now available at the Brier Creek Earth Fare in Raleigh.

Happy Tummy Baking Company Expansion

Just a quick update to let you know that Happy Tummy Baking Company pizza crusts can now be found at the Cary, Durham and Chapel Hills Whole Foods Markets as well as Harmony Farms.  The allergen free pizza crusts made their official launch/debut in the Raleigh Whole Foods Market location only one month ago.  Good to see this expansion.  If you've tried a crust (thanks for supporting a local Gluten Free company), feel free to leave a comment.

Happy Tummy Allergen Free Pizza Crusts Now Available in Raleigh Whole Foods

Just a quick update to let you know that after many months of product development, Raleigh resident Maria Hopper has finally got her allergen free frozen pizza crusts available for purchase.  You can find Happy Tummy Baking Company pizza crusts at the Raleigh Whole Foods store in the frozen pizza section (not the frozen GF section).

Reminder: Raleigh Whole Foods GF Vendor Fair This Saturday

Just a quick reminder about the latest Whole Foods Gluten Free Vendor Fair which will be held this Saturday, April 10th, 2010 from 11am - 3pm.  Stop in the Raleigh store on Wade Avenue to see some great vendors demoing their Gluten Free products.  This is also the launch of the Happy Tummy Baking Company and their new allergen-free pizza crusts.

Local Product Spotlight: Happy Tummy Baking Company

It's my pleasure to introduce yet another awesome local company that caters to those eating Gluten Free (or some type of other allergen-free) – the Happy Tummy Baking Company. We first met Raleigh resident Maria Hopper last summer as she was researching the possibility of starting a new company that would make pizza crusts. You can see previous posts here about the Allergen Free Pizza Crusts she has been working on. After many months of researching, polling potential customers and developing the product, Maria is now ready to launch.


Allergen-Free means Happy Tummy pizzas are free from the big eight allergens (wheat, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, soy) but they are also Gluten Free, Yeast Free and Vegan as well. Wow! This truly is a product that everyone can enjoy. There are not too many companies out there doing the totally allergen-free thing (I can think of Enjoy Life and a few others but that's it), so kudos to Maria for going this extra step. The ready-to-bake frozen pizza crusts (add your own toppings) contain the following ingredients; water, white rice flour, tapioca starch, sorghum flour, Xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, cane sugar and canola oil. A simple recipe that has received rave reviews during several product tastings over the past few months.


Maria's motivation has been her own diagnosis with Celiac Disease as well as her daughter's Celiac and yeast sensitivities. It's also pretty common for Celiac's to have multiple other food sensitivities as well. This product fills the void that most other Gluten Free pizzas do not. Happy Tummy pizzas are currently made during off hours in a commercial kitchen owned by another company. Due to the fact that this kitchen does have other allergens present, Maria takes extensive measures to test her products. Maria employs Gluten testing daily to make sure her crusts are < 10PPM. She also brings all of her own dedicated pans, equipment and ingredients to the facility so that no shared items are used during the preparation or baking process. For these reasons, Gluten Free Raleigh did not need to perform any other testing per my new Product Testing Policy. There are plans in the future for Happy Tummy to move to their very own dedicated facility and to introduce additional products. We'll definitely keep our eyes on that.

Please see the pictures to the left for what the product packaging will look like.


The new Happy Tummy pizza crusts will be available in the Raleigh Whole Foods beginning in March. I'll provide another update/reminder as that time approaches so we can all support a local company.

Reminder: Pizza Tasting Tonight

Quick reminder of the Gluten Free/Allergen-Free/Corn Free pizza tasting tonight!

Click here for more details and to RSVP.

Allergy Free Pizza Tasting - August 27th

I have been in contact with Raleigh resident and entrepreneur Maria Hopper over the last few months about a project she has been working on - totally allergen-free pizza crusts! You may remember my post back in June on this topic where Maria was seeking input on the product idea.

Maria got back in touch with me a few weeks ago and mentioned she has further developed the product and is ready for some feedback. She stated that she heard common complaints that Gluten Free crusts often contain other common allergens which makes them difficult to eat for GF folks and/or Celiacs. Things like yeast, lactose, corn or soy.

Maria has been on the hunt for a great crust that would be Gluten Free, Yeast Free, Corn Free and Top 8 Allergen Free (milk, egg, peanut, tree nut, fish, shellfish, soy & wheat). Theoretically, a worry free crust for everyone to enjoy, and now she's ready for your feedback.

Wanna Try It?
If you are interested in a free tasting of this new allergen-free pizza crust, please contact Maria Hopper via email. The tasting will be held on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm at the Stonebridge neighborhood clubhouse located in North Raleigh. Maria will have fully prepared pizzas for your tasting enjoyment but her eventual end product will most likely be crusts that you bake and top yourself. After tasting your pizza, please take a few minutes to fill out a short evaluation of the crusts. Maria will use this information to further fine tune her product. This is a win-win situation for both Maria and Gluten Free consumers. How often do you get the chance to shape the products under development before they are released? This should prevent you from saying "I wish it was like this or that" or "Why didn't they ask my input before they made this".
See below for full details.

When: 8/27/09 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Where: Stonebridge neighborhood clubhouse
405 Emerywood Drive
Raleigh, NC
Directions: Take Creedmoor Road north to Baileywick Road. Right on Baileywick. Left of Chander Drive (note the Shannon Woods subdivision sign). Right on Emerywood Drive. The clubhouse is located on the right at 405 Emerywood Drive (just after house number 409). Or click here for a map to find your own way.
Cost: Free
RSVP: Maria Hopper via email

Let's try to get as many people as possible over to this tasting and show a local resident our support as she develops an awesome product that can be enjoyed by everyone!

Allergen Free Pizza Crusts?

I know all of you are interested in Gluten Free pizza... fortunately for us, we've got some great options in the Raleigh area (Bella Monica, Z Pizza & Uno Chicago Grill just to name a few). While having a GF crust choice is a great thing over what we had a few years ago, I often get asked if the GF crusts I write about are free of other allergens like dairy or soy, etc...

I was contacted at the end of May by Raleigh resident Maria who expressed her interest in developing a completely allergen-free crust and a company to sell it. It would also be Gluten Free and yeast free as well. Eliminating the other major allergens would make pizza available for all folks out there with food issues. Maria is of course interested in feedback from consumers like the ones who read this blog, so she developed a little online survey.

Let's all help out Maria (and ourselves) by taking this short ten question survey and providing her with feedback about this potential product.

Survey