Our Story
Hi there.
I’m Siouxie (soo-zie). Founder & CEO of SWITCH™ (formerly Scrummy Sweets).
I'm just a girl who loves gummy bears AND metabolic health. But, also a wife (married for over 36 years now), mother of 4, and grandmother to 6 delicious niblets.
I've been sick, obese, and struggled with health most of my adult life, which led me to researching why--even when I thought I was making healthy choices.
For the past decade and a half, I’ve been one of those people who reads every label and researches the ingredients on them because the consequences just aren’t worth it.
I track my blood sugar, eat very low carb, and don't eat sugar at all.
I started making my own gummy bears back in 2015 or so. Mainly because I love the satisfying goodness that gummy bears provide, but I also have a loose connective tissue disease and wanted a fun way to get extra collagen in my diet.
Sugar is a big no for me. Artificial and chemical ingredients are something I avoid in my diet (and environment) wherever possible, and I try to stick to organic and non-gmo, preferably minimally processed. This is really why I started making my own gummy bears.
The options for a sugar-free gummy bear with good ingredients are practically non-existent. They either spiked my blood-sugar, upset my tummy, or have ingredients I don't love.
So, I made my own.
In 2020, while others were baking, I was making a lot of gummy bears when my husband casually suggested that we should bring them to market.
This was also when I discovered that making truly zero-sugar gummy bears is not as easy as I thought.
Let me explain...
A quick background on gummy bear making.
Regular gummy bears are pretty easy to make. You just need a base of sugar, sugar syrup (or corn syrup), and gelatin. These three ingredients combine to create that gummy texture people know and love. Add flavors and color, a bit of citric or malic acid, and voila! you have a gummy bear mixture. Use a dropper and fill your gummy bear mold, let them set up, and enjoy.
Turns out that without the sugar and the sugar syrup, this all goes to hell rather quickly.
My recipe was loosely modeled after a major “sugar-free” gummy bear brand that uses a syrup called IMO (Isomalto-oligosaccharide) which has been touted as a “keto-friendly” pre-biotic fiber that doesn’t get metabolized by the body. However, turns out, this is not true.
IMO tastes a lot like corn syrup, and it acts like corn syrup in making gummies, so my gummy bears had a great texture. That’s because IMO really is a lot like corn syrup and even reacts on blood glucose just like straight glucose. It’s also not actually a prebiotic fiber because there are no studies or documented results to back those claims about not being metabolized.
Well, in 2019, the FDA made it very clear what is and is not considered a pre-biotic fiber.
A true fiber is not metabolized by the body, and instead feeds the good bacteria in the gut or provides roughage and passes through the digestive tract without impact to blood glucose.
We discovered all of this in 2020 whilst working out the recipe that we were thinking of bringing to market. Yikes!
That’s when I realized that even the one “sugar-free” gummy bear brand that had more natural ingredients was not actually sugar-free.
Because of this IMO issue, that same brand reformulated its recipe in 2021. Their new recipe now has 18g net carbs vs the earlier 3 or 4g net carbs claim that graced their bags.
This changed everything.
"I realized then that there are no truly sugar-free, no-impact gummy bears (including my own homemade recipe), and I felt kind of betrayed. And determined."
I didn’t want to give up my gummy bears, so I set out to create a recipe that actually satisfied my sweet tooth and had the texture of the gummy candy I loved, but without sugar or sketchy ingredients.
Turns out that when you take away the sugar syrup, everything else falls apart. EVERYTHING.
So, we diligently researched each ingredient and went to work. We tried different gelatins, sweeteners, different ratios of moisture, and worked on the texture. A lot.
My friends and family were reluctant guinea pigs (in the beginning) as I offered them my weird-tasting samples, insisting they ignore the flavors and colors and just focus on whether we nailed the gummy texture.
Once the texture was good, we tackled the sweeteners and flavors while we continued to research ingredients.
We learned a lot about the darker side of the commercial food chain, and how to navigate it while maintaining our integrity. And my husband and I learned the science and the ins and outs of making gummy bears.
Around the 60-something batch, we developed a recipe with zero sugar and no sugar alcohols without the digestive explosions, and that actually tasted pretty good.
We taste-tested our recipe with a variety of people, kids of all ages (including our very finicky grandson), dieters, and candy lovers.
Our family and friends were no longer reluctant and ask us if we have any gummy bears on us whenever we’re out and about. I love that they love them as much as we do, and now I’m obsessed.
I wanted a truly sugar-free, zero impact gummy bear that was tasty, but with ingredients that I could feed my kids and grandkids with zero guilt. And we’ve done it. Actually!
With the help of lots of friends and family (and loads of unexpected fans), we had our first commercial run in July 2021.
Less than a month later, our gummy bears were on grocery shelves. Since then, we've sold hundreds of thousands of bags of gummy bears, been featured in various media, podcasts, and keto subscription boxes.
In 2022, we accidentally created a sugar free caramel recipe, and added 3 variations of caramels (Classic, Coconut, and Coffee) to our product family. And in 2023, added our Best Selling Salted Caramels.
Our gummies have gone through various iterations and manufacturing challenges along the journey (Oh! The stories I have now). But, I was intent on solving all of it.
Meanwhile, in my home life, I was searching for a clean pancake syrup worthy of my zero carb pancakes without caramel coloring that supports my blood sugar. I couldn't find any I loved, so I made my own.
The whole family loved it, so we ran a small batch and tested out the response from others at KetoCon (a huge convention in Austin in 2024). We sold every bottle the first day. Turns out, many others missed a good pancake syrup too.
Now it's part of our family of blood sugar friendly, clean products, and a runaway best seller. It's my favorite product to taste test at trade shows because no one expects a sugar-free pancake syrup to taste as delicious as they remember.
In late February 2025, we finally achieved the gummy bears I've been dreaming of, with the capacity to make mini snack size gummy bags. And I finally have the gummy bears that rival my kitchen version.
In late June, 2025, we rebranded as SWITCH™. New look. Same amazing products. Zero BS (Bad Stuff).
Our new name and branding is a perfect reflection of the standards and values we’ve had since day one. That’s not changing.
I don’t believe that healthy living should mean sacrifice. While there’s many good products out there, I had a hard time finding some of my favorites, so I made them. And now, I share them with people like you.
ZERO BS refers to the BS (bad stuff) I avoid when shopping for my family. If it’s not good enough for them, it’s not good enough.
The BS (Bad Stuff):
- Sugar & Artificial Sweeteners
- Artificial Colors & Flavors
- Seed Oils and Hydrogenated Fats
- GMOs & Glyphosate
- Ingredients that spike blood sugar
- Ingredients we can’t pronounce
This is SWITCH. As delicious as you remember, without the BS.
xoxo,
Founder & Chief Gummy Bear Maker, SWITCH™
