Heidi Normanton “People Don’t Just Want Healthy Food Anymore, They Want Food That Works”

In the third part of our conversation with Heidi Normanton, the founder of HeyLO! reflects on the changing way Britain thinks about food, health and everyday eating habits.

Conversations that once felt niche, from blood sugar to low carb eating, have rapidly entered the mainstream. But while trends come and go, Normanton believes the deeper shift is behavioural. Consumers are no longer looking purely at calories or indulgence. Increasingly, they are asking how food fits into their lives, how it makes them feel and whether healthier choices can still feel enjoyable.

As the rise of GLP 1 medications, functional food and wellness driven eating continues to reshape the industry, HeyLO! sits at the centre of a category evolving quickly beyond traditional “diet food”. In this conversation, Normanton discusses why balance is replacing restriction, why bakery brands are having to rethink old assumptions, and why she believes the future of healthier eating may eventually stop needing labels altogether.

When did low-carb stop feeling niche? Over the last few years I think people have become much more curious about how food affects them day-to-day.

Are people more informed or more concerned? Probably both. People are reading labels now and asking more questions.

Blood sugar is suddenly mainstream. Why? People are connecting food with energy, mood and feeling good, rather than only focusing on calories.

GLP-1 has changed the conversation. Thoughts? It's definitely made people think more intentionally about food and satiety. But food trends come and go — our focus is still helping people build sustainable habits.

Opportunity or something to handle carefully? Carefully. We don't want to become overly clinical.

How do you keep it grounded? By remembering we're a bakery brand. People still want pleasure, comfort and enjoyment.

What are traditional bakery brands getting wrong? Sometimes they assume consumers only care about indulgence or only care about health. Increasingly people want both.

Restriction or different thinking? I think people are moving away from extremes and asking, "How does this fit into my life?"

Biggest gap still? Food that performs nutritionally but still feels genuinely enjoyable.

Does low-carb need to be a category eventually? Hopefully not. Ideally people just buy food because it makes them feel good and tastes great.

Throughout the conversation, Normanton speaks less about trends and more about behaviour. While low carb eating may have become more visible in recent years, she sees the bigger shift as consumers becoming more intentional about the relationship between food and how they feel day to day.

What stands out is her resistance to extremes. Even as discussions around blood sugar and GLP 1 medications dominate headlines, Normanton repeatedly returns to the importance of sustainability, enjoyment and normality. The goal, she suggests, is not clinical eating or rigid restriction, but food that fits naturally into real life.

That perspective increasingly feels aligned with where the wider market is heading. Consumers still want comfort, pleasure and familiarity, but they also want food that leaves them feeling better afterwards. In many ways, HeyLO!’s growth reflects that intersection, where function and enjoyment are no longer seen as opposites.