KANSAS CITY, MO — Through many trials, cross-country flights and product runs, Morgan Murdock, founder of Kansas City, MO-based Unbothered Foods, relentlessly sought the perfect manufacturer fit.
When the “just right” fit emerged, a new struggle began. The R&D process required multiple test runs, dough reformulations and built-in buffer days to meet the brand’s fixed fermentation requirements.
Who better to lead the reformulation charge than Murdock herself?
“It’s not just mix and bake,” Murdock said. “If the dough gets messed up, you have to start all the way back from the fermentation piece. It’s trial by fire, but it’s necessary if you want to work with the big players.”
The journey was arduous, but once Murdock gained confidence in the baking team, she returned the brand’s focus to what it knew best: showing consumers what proper digestive health could feel like, and how to achieve it in a flavorful format.
Timing is in the brand’s favor, as the digestive health market is booming, with a total worth of more than $51 billion in 2025, according to Grand View Research. Baked goods are emerging as a formidable vehicle for gut-boosting ingredients, proving that today’s consumers aren’t willing to trade flavor for function.
And they want to feel something when they snack; they want to connect. While sales and distribution partnerships are a telling description of a consumer base, social media provides a direct path to forming those connections, and Unbothered Foods’ “Sour Squad” paints a picture worth a thousand words.
“From day one, the Sour Squad was my way of turning a cracker brand into a community,” Murdock said. “I want people to feel like they’re in on the story, part of the journey and connected to something bigger than a bag of crackers.”
Functioning as a hub and growth engine, the Sour Squad has been there since the brand’s earliest days, when Murdock was still hand-rolling crackers and testing new recipes in the shared kitchen. Now, it’s the brand’s inner circle, the people who get to go behind-the-scenes, have first access to new product drops and even get invested in the brand through community fundraisers.
With distribution on Amazon, expansion into boutique retailers nationwide, and a recent Whole Foods launch, the Unbothered Foods community stretches far beyond its origin in the Windy City. The brand is capturing the attention of consumers nationwide.
“Our customers don’t just buy crackers,” Murdock said. “Every bag we sell feels like a little vote of confidence to keep going and keep doing it the right way.”
For now, Unbothered Foods is set on maintaining quality and consistency by sticking to the original three flavors that allow the spotlight to shine on sourdough: Sea Salt & Flax, Cheddar & Chive, and Rosemary & Sea Salt.
“We have a lot of exciting retail partnerships on the horizon, so we’re focused on growing distribution,” Murdock said. “We’d like to add more sourdough products, but that’s probably still a couple of years out. We want crackers to be the champion that gets us into stores.”
Built on a dietitian’s promise of access to easy, digestible snacks, Unbothered Foods is staking a claim in an overlooked category, facing operational and formulation challenges head-on, all while remaining calm, cool and … unbothered.
This story has been adapted from the February | Q1 2026 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.
