Dear customers, business associates, valued stockists and friends in the low carb community.

We have been busy innovating new products, perfecting our work and ensuring that like all good businesses who wish to thrive, our integrity is never brought into question. We believe that we serve a community that is striving for better health.  We take our role in this space very seriously.

As many of you are aware, it was because we value our integrity, reputation and relationships within our community so much, (as far as we are concerned, these things mean more than any other currency) that we were forced to protect our company’s reputation and trust in the market when we came under unjustifiable attack from a competitor company who had embarked upon a smear campaign against French Confectionery.  The purpose of this statement is to provide an update and ensure that we have taken you all into our confidence, because we wish to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind about our brand.  We do not operate in the shadows, we will shine a light on our beliefs, business ethos and how we operate.

We allowed this party an opportunity to come forward and provide evidence and substantiation for its claims against French Confectionery, the most egregious of which was that we, as a bread maker specifically for the low carb community which includes people who are diabetic and who suffer from other dietary restrictions, were misleading the public about our bread being low carb.

This was done specifically to address what the genesis of this campaign was and to ascertain on what basis this party was publishing a false, inaccurate and disputed document that purported to be nutritional analysis undertaken by it through a lab that is not SANAS accredited and with whom we are unfamiliar in the food testing environment.  Our reasonable requests for proof that it was in fact our bread that this lab allegedly tested, that it could be independently verified that this party had in fact provided a French Confectionery product (this disputed lab analysis did not refer to our company by its full name, it simply used an abbreviation of sorts) were met with refusals.  We also requested a reasonable undertaking, as any business who is being attacked with false accusations is entitled to, that this party immediately ceases making false and damaging accusations about our business.  This too was met with bald denial and refusal.

We therefore once again find ourselves in the unfortunate position of having to expend time and resources to protect our reputation and put an end to this campaign. We are pursuing the necessary legal action.  We also wish to remind everyone that our nutritional analysis for the low carb sourdough, has been uploaded and is available for everyone to consider and peruse should you wish, in our online store.   This analysis, as all other analyses provided for our products, was undertaken by labs who are certified and accredited to conduct food analysis.

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM ME: from being a once unknown and historically disadvantaged business in the low carb space, before it became the thriving, growing and embracing community that it is now, my team and I spent years working hard to prove that we belong here and that our products are excellent. We are driven by the desire to improve the lives and diets of our customers and to keep bringing the best to your table as much as we are driven by wanting to be successful and to provide for our families.

We do not for a moment expect litigation proceedings or legal interventions to resolve this situation for us alone.  We intend to protect our business and the goodwill we worked so hard to build, but we want to make something very clear : we do not fear fair competition.  In fact, we welcome it.  Fair, ethical competition leads to innovation, better products, better food and it grows the community.

We know that our products speak for themselves and we trust our customers and community to make their own decisions about who they support and what they prefer. We choose to spend our time and efforts doing our best to create new products and constantly improve ourselves.

We thank you for taking the time to read this statement and we wish you all well.

Marlon Felkers

Owner of French Confectionery.

Please be aware that at Hello Earth adhere to the strictest standards in manufacturing our products and take the greatest care to avoid cross contamination, we are however required to mention all possible allergens on our product labels. Always read our labels on any of our products to see what our allergens are or view our table below which states what our Rye Bread Range contains & what our Nutri Low Carb Range contains. The main allergens in our products are, Tree Nuts, Oats and Wheat Gluten.

• Equipment and contact surfaces are always cleaned between production runs whenever there is a change in allergenic ingredients. (To prevent even the smallest amount of cross contamination.)
• Staff members handling allergens are expected to use a clean cloth as well as surface cleaning chemicals to prevent any contamination. This is always done between production runs.
• In regard to cold storage of our finished products, a separation system is strictly adhered to and monitored.
• All our allergenic ingredients are stored separate and labelled accordingly to prevent accidents within the production line.
• Lastly, an allergen control officer is always appointed to oversee the handling of allergens.

Please note: The above image depicts tree nuts, oats, & gluten.