Customer Sharon Hogan discusses new items she would like to see carried at Mimi’s Low Carb Market with co-owner Liz Crawford. The Hixson grocery store, which specializes in low-carb and gluten-free foods, often stocks special items on request from customers.The inability to find the proverbial needle in the haystack drove Jeff Crawford into marketing the needles himself.
In his case, the needles are diabetic foods — low-carb, low-sugar and gluten-free products, specifically, that people like his mother, newly diagnosed with diabetes, can eat.
Crawford’s business, Mimi’s Low Carb Market — named after his mother, Louise — opened in November in Hixson. While saying he “stays away from trying to diagnose” at Mimi’s Low Carb Market, Crawford at least wants to offer a wide variety of low-carb foods and those free of gluten, a protein in wheat, barley and rye.
“That’s one of the main reasons for starting the store,” he says. “We’ve done the research, made sure the products are good. The industry has come a long ways in a short period of time.”
Food allergies and sensitivities are on the rise, according to those who deal with them on a daily basis.