Unbothered Foods satiates demand for gut-healthy crackers

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Unbothered Foods satiates demand for gut-healthy crackers

16 Mar 2026

Lily Cota

Lily Cota is a writer, editor and photographer from Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in English and a minor in Photography. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading fantasy novels, thrifting, trying out local coffee shops and spending time with her nieces.

KANSAS CITY, MO — Perfecting sourdough at scale may sound like a big challenge for a budding brand, but it’s the pivotal component that sets Kansas City, MO-based Unbothered Foods apart.

Made without commercial yeast, Unbothered Foods’ Sourdough Crackers are formulated to optimize flavor and digestion while maintaining the vibe of a care-free snack. For consumers dealing with IBS and gluten intolerance, snacking has never been “care-free.” Their diets are restricted by what their guts can handle, leaving little room for casual eating.

Thanks to increased interest in sourdough during the pandemic, consumers have a better understanding of the connection between fermentation and gut health, leading them to the snack aisle in search of mindful gratification. But their options are limited.

This realization pushed dietitian and digestive health expert Morgan Murdock to apply her expertise toward building a snack brand that’s there for the little guy … or gut.

“It was hard to tell my patients to eat the same four brands when I knew I could make a new product they could eat and enjoy,” Murdock said. “Working in gut health as a brand is exciting because we can help improve people’s lives entirely.”

Suddenly, Murdock’s home kitchen was overtaken by sourdough starter as she prepared bread and pizzas for her patients to pick up. It wasn’t long before the brand evolved, taking shape in the form of fermented crackers.

“Sourdough was truly what everyone loved, but I knew long-term I wanted something shelf stable that could be a pantry staple, not just a random treat,” Murdock said. “So crackers felt like the right starting point.”

Demand grew quickly, and Murdock moved production to a shared kitchen with a team of five. After securing space on the shelves of a few neighborhood stores around its original home of Chicago, Unbothered Foods officially launched in early 2023.

“Working in gut health as a brand is exciting because we can help improve people’s lives entirely.” — Morgan Murdock | founder | Unbothered Foods

With regular sell-outs and a swelling reputation, the brand’s concept was validated, but the limits to its small-scale manufacturing were also fully exposed. When it was clear capacity had hit its cap, and the tiny sheeter and five-rack oven were no longer cutting it, the brand began its search for a co-manufacturer.

“I started producing on a smaller scale and bootstrapped for a while, but it was very clear there would come a breaking point, and my passion is not in manufacturing,” Murdock said. “I knew I didn’t want to run the bakery.”

As a startup, it’s hard to find a manufacturer willing to work with the operation and its smaller runs. It’s even trickier when fermentation is in the mix.

“Our dough is fermented for 24 hours before it’s baked, so we needed the expertise of bread bakers who weren’t scared of fermentation, but also cracker manufacturers who had the right equipment,” Murdock said.

Essentially, the brand was looking for its Goldilocks: small enough to understand fermentation, large enough to produce at scale. It was a process that took more than a year, one that led the brand to the West Coast in search of a world beyond sourdough flavoring.

“Even though there are other sourdough crackers on the market, most are not actually fermented,” Murdock said. “They add sourdough flavor to give it that distinct taste, but there’s no real fermentation, which is the whole point of the Unbothered brand. Fermentation is a non-negotiable for us.”

This story has been adapted from the February | Q1 2026 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.