30 | OCTOBER 8 • 2020 

business SPOTlight

brought to you in partnership with 
B I R M I N G H A M

W

hen nutrition 
consultant Stacy 
Goldberg first devel-
oped the idea for Savorfull back 
in 2011, an e-commerce plat-
form that offers healthy, “free-
from” snacks, she was receiving 
more and more 
calls from clients 
seeking foods “free 
from” ingredients 
such as gluten or 
dairy.
“I wanted to 
reach more peo-
ple,
” Goldberg, 44, of West 
Bloomfield, said. “When you 
work as a nutritionist, you only 
see a certain number of peo-
ple per day, and it was not so 
scalable.
” She was working with 
children and families and even 
professional athletes, but her 
vision was to expand further.
To help more people, 
Goldberg decided to focus on 
the free-from market. “I knew 
there was this boom in the food 
space where I was seeing more 
gluten-free, dairy-free, pea-
nut-free coming into the mar-
ket,
” she recalled, “but I was also 
getting a number of calls from 
clients who were looking to be 
more free-from, whether they 
had food allergies or wanted to 
be vegan or plant-based or had 
specific dietary needs.
”
At the time, she was moving 
away from private practice and 
into an entrepreneurial accel-
erator program to learn how to 
build a scalable business where 
she could still provide nutrition 
education information, but also 
be able to connect people to 

healthier food choices. It was 
the early stages of Savorfull, 
which has recently expanded 
to include a mobile app for 
free-from snack purchasing and 
home or business delivery.
“I found that what was 
happening, even in my prac-
tice, is that people were really 
overwhelmed by food choices,
” 
Goldberg said. She originally 
would take people into grocery 
stores to teach them how to 
read labels and pick foods right 
for their needs, and later incor-
porated that same philosophy 
into Savorfull, where clients 
and customers can search for 
foods based on a variety of 
free-from choices. The website 
also accommodates searches for 
certified kosher food.
Goldberg has five people 
on her Savorfull team, and the 
business is housed under the 
Detroit-based Rock Family of 
Companies. When users sign 
up for its services, they receive 
free-from food choices that are 
personally vetted by Goldberg 
and her staff. Shipping is free 

for purchases made in the U.S., 
aside from Hawaii and Alaska, 
and customers can choose 
curated snack boxes or create 
their own assortments from a 
variety of choices.
More than 40 vendors make 
up Savorfull’
s roster. Goldberg 
traveled across the country to 
discover these brands, attending 
various food shows and exhi-
bitions. There’
s even a focus 
on Michigan-made goods, 
including the likes of B’
Bites, 
Cooper Street and Germack, 
among others. “We love local,
” 
she said. “We really work hard 
to find unique products that are 
nutritionally dense, free from 
anything artificial and clean eat-
ing-based.
”

UNIQUE ITEMS
Savorfull’
s selection includes 
bigger brands such as Beanfields 
and Honey Stinger, but also 
smaller vendors from other 
states that aren’
t often found in 
big box stores. “We try to find 
really cool, interesting brands 
that maybe you’
ve never heard 

of,
” Goldberg said, “emerging 
brands and local brands from 
across the country.
”
She believes a healthy lifestyle 
is one of moderation, so any-
thing from chips to cookies can 
be found on the Savorfull app 
and website. “We don’
t have any 
strict guidelines as far as grams 
of sodium or grams of sugar,
” 
Goldberg explained, “because 
everyone is living a different 
lifestyle and not everyone is 
ready to go from potato chips to 
kale chips.
”
When Goldberg was revamp-
ing the Savorfull website earlier 
this year, she knew she also 
wanted to incorporate a mobile 
app for easier online shopping. 
Launching in 2020 was always 
the goal, but it was sheer coinci-
dence that the timing coincided 
with COVID-19.
In a climate where services 
like curbside and food delivery 
are steadily becoming the norm, 
Goldberg, who serves on Jewish 
Federation of Metropolitan 
Detroit’
s Women’
s Philanthropy 
board and Jewish Working 
Women’
s Network board, 
believes the timing couldn’
t 
have been more aligned.
“One of the interesting things 
that people are realizing in 
COVID is that it really is easy 
to shop online,
” she explained. 
“People who were hesitant 
before to buy snacks on an app 
are realizing how much time 
they’
ll save, how much money 
they’
ll save and the convenience 
of it.
”
She believes more and more 
people will start to lean into the 
online food shopping space, 
especially when it comes to 
free-from snacks. “It’
s been 
exciting to see that growth,
” 
Goldberg said, “and I think it’
s 
here to stay.
” 

Stacy 
Goldberg

‘Free-From’ Munching

Local nutritionist offers healthier snacks on new app.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF SAVORFULL

