How KetoKeto Snacks Combine Keto & Vegan Diet

Meet KetoKeto - one of the UK's most popular keto and vegan snacks brands.

KetoKeto was founded by Ian Harris in late 2019. It began as a side passion project and grew into something much bigger.

Ian is also the founder of the creative agency muchmore, which specializes in launching healthy food and drink brands here in the UK. Having worked with many food startups, including ice creams, coconut waters and protein bars, the team really never envisioned doing their own brand until Ian and his wife Sarah started following a Keto diet and experimenting with making Keto Brownies in their kitchen at home. 

At the time, Keto became almost a mini-trend in their social group as many friends started following it and saw great results. 

Two things became apparent at this time, how much Ian craved a Keto snack during the day and how so many Keto diets encouraged meat-based products as the staple go-to for Keto food. 

A lighter, healthier plant-based option would have been ideal, and from looking around, they noticed nothing was really available.  

Having the experience and the resources, they decided to launch a small brand in-house - a bold and confident brand all about Keto praising the benefits of a healthy high-fat diet. 

Even though KetoKeto launched in late 2019, they began developing the product already in early 2018. What they thought would be an easy process turned out to be really tough as they had to overcome many problems. Making a bar stick ready for a wrapper took some time. 

 Most health bars available on the market are stuck together with dried fruits or dates, which isn't suitable for Keto. Their recipe was second to none and super unique without cutting corners. And even better, it's handmade here in the UK.

The tasty keto bar they designed contains almonds as the base ingredient. Almond is the 3rd most expensive nut in the world and is very effective for ketosis. Alongside cashews and hazelnuts, they use flaxseed and coconuts. KetKeto bars contain Erythritol and Xylitol, two of the most recommended sweeteners for the Keto diet. Studies have proved that Erythritol shows nearly no impact on blood sugars level when eaten. KetoKeto bars do not have any soy or soya, nor Malitol - a sweetener, a common hidden nasty ingredient in many protein bars claiming low sugar content.

Plus there is an added benefit: the KetoKeto bars are super filling and help curb cravings. 

So what is a Keto diet?

A keto diet is a diet that gets your body into a state of ketosis, where it burns fats instead of carbohydrates as a source of fuel. It is known for having very low levels of carbs and adequate amounts of protein whilst sourcing most of your daily calories from fat.

Ian explains: "A typical macronutrient breakdown of the keto diet would be 70-80% of all calories from healthy fats such as nuts, avocados, olive oil etc., 20-30% of calories from protein, and then 5% or less of calories from carbohydrates."

People see great results on the Keto diet, and it has a real impact on the way they eat moving forward. KetoKeto helps curb cravings by giving easy go-to snacks that don't overspend your carbohydrate allowance. For some, Keto is quite relaxed and could be considered a more low-carb approach. Yet, some people are rigorous in measuring their daily macros and aiming to hit those exact numbers. KetoKeto bars work for both. 

How do Keto and the vegn diet go together?

Ian explains: "To follow a vegan keto diet, you must rely heavily on high-fat, plant-based products like coconut oil, MCT oil, avocados, seeds, and nuts. 

"We are aware the vegan diet has shown it to lower the risk of chronic health conditions, like diabetes, certain cancers and heart disease. Meanwhile people on vegan diets tend to lose more weight than those with animal products in their diets. Research into the keto diet has shown its effectiveness for weight loss, reduced heart disease factors, enhanced brain health and blood sugar control," he says.

"A likely conclusion is that with the benefits of vegan and ketogenic diets clear, combining the two with a vegan keto diet would also positively impact health. Studies are still in their early stages of this, however, the evidence looks great," he concludes.

KetoKeto products are all Keto and 100% vegan. The brand launched its first two flavours in 2019 and currently offers five flavours of Keto bars. In late 2021 they launched Keto Crunch Puffs, which are basically Keto crisps. Ian says he is a real crisp junkie, and it's Kryptonite for him, so as KetoKeto began to grow, this became the brand's next big product.

KetoKeto is currently working on new flavours of crisps and bars and new easy to grab Keto snacks making Keto diet easy for everyone. 

The next big step for the brand is to hit the shelves of supermarkets in the UK and make its products available to everyone. With a vast social media following, customers easily find the products online. Still, the brand received many requests to be found in the shops, including The Vegan Kind. The brand is also preparing to launch across Europe, so watch this space! 

KetoKeto team photo, left to right: Ian - Founder, Guy - Senior Brand Designer, Josh - Social Media, 3d & motion, Sergejs - Front End Developer, Roxette - Graphic Designer, Ilja - Senior Developer, Laura - Head of Operations, Katherine (not on here) - head of sales.