When her children were young, Julie Pillon became worried about the impact of sugar on their health and wellbeing. She eschewed classic canteen favourites and lunchbox fillers in favour of more wholesome options, instilling an appreciation of healthy foods in her kids from an early age.
Fast forward to 2024, and Julie runs her own small drinks business alongside her son Michael. Their brand, Famous, is redefining sugary childhood classics into something a whole lot healthier.
“We set out to change the world a little for the better by creating “better for you” products in the worst sugar offending product categories,” Julie explains.
With WHO blaming sugary drinks as one of the leading contributors to global type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemics, Famous started their journey by flipping the classic soda on its head. The goal? To make soda both sugar and guilt-free.
Developing a sugar-free soda
Removing the unwholesome elements from soda necessitated a longer R&D process, as Julie Pillon describes.
“We put together a crack team of food techs and threw in a bio chemist, because it’s a science: months and months of R&D taste testing, perfecting, lab testing until we cracked the perfect formula,” Julie describes.
Getting the flavour right was paramount, but difficult – hence the food scientist. One big issue Famous ran into at the start was maintaining flavour through the heat pasteurisation process.
“We heat pasteurised our sodas at the start – that was all that was on offer in Australia,” Julie explains. “Although they still tasted good, we found the intense heat tended to dull down the natural ingredients.”
The big breakthrough came when Julie and Michael decided to try cold pasteurising their sodas. This meant the Famous sodas would last a while on shelves but not lose as much flavour in the production process.
After a long, arduous R&D process, the sugarless sodas were rolled out onto the market – and they were a success. After launching the drinks on the shelves of Australia’s biggest supermarkets, Julie and Michael decided to expand their range with a new product.
Making a “mum-approved” milkshake
The next childhood classic that Famous made over was the humble milkshake, which Julie and Michael decided to transform into a protein shake for kids.
The R&D process for the shakes was “very different”, Julie says, as they couldn’t rely on cold-pasteurisation this time.
“The shakes are dairy based, and UHT pasteurised, which of course is a heat process,” she says. “[It took] a lot of learning and research getting the formula for one-to-eleven-year-olds, and the process, perfect.”
It took four trials to land on the best formula, but the protein shakes made a triumphant debut last month in Woolworths, Costo, and independent retailers.
When it comes to getting stocked, Julie recommends making a good name and a good product before tackling the giants.
“Don’t go out until you get it right, also we humans like things that taste good – so deliver on flavour,” she says.
On the topic of making a name: Organic growth is key to Famous’ strategy. The brand has a small marketing budget and relies on a solid offering and meeting customers where they’re at.
“If you have a good product, the organic growth begins from there,” Julie says. “We made a name for ourselves in all the key independent channels first. Once we had locked in our supply chain, logistics etc for growth we hired a supermarket consultant, and the rest is history.”
