Marshall, who had been diagnosed as celiac in 2008, saw a real-life need for a better tasting, better ingredient gluten-free protein bar. Along with his brother, Elliott, who also turned out to have a severe gluten intolerance, they started discussing the idea of creating a gluten-free bar business. They didn't know much, but they knew that people were becoming more educated about gluten intolerance and better-for-you foods. The utter lack of quality options available on the market spurred them to launch The GFB in 2010.

Most food that you see in the store is made in big factories. While there isn't anything wrong with that, it's not what we do. We started our own facility because we wanted to create jobs, contribute to our local economy, and be able to keep a close eye on quality. Luckily, we've had the opportunity to grow over the years and make a larger positive impact on our local community. The GFB is now a leading area provider of job opportunities for those with barriers to employment, such as returning citizens (formerly incarcerated individuals). We are also proud to say that we operate a zero waste facility.

We started out wanting to "do the right thing" - in the beginning that meant we wanted to pay our team members a living wage and recycle/upcycle/reuse whenever possible. It turns out that what we were really trying to do is to create a sustainable business, which lead us to becoming a Certified B Corp in 2015. Certified B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Read more on our sustainability page.