By Roxanne McBride
When my husband decided he wanted to be a cowboy and we packed up and moved from Washington state to rural northeast Texas, I thought I knew what I was walking into. I did not.
The grocery store situation was a shock.
Back home, gluten-free lived mixed in with everything else because there was a version of everything. Out here, there was one shelf in the center of the store. That was it. For someone managing Type 2 diabetes with food allergies, that kind of regional gap hits differently.
I had already spent years trying to figure out fiber. My doctor told me it was the key to getting off some of my diabetes medications — or at least the harsher ones that made me feel terrible. So I tried everything. More produce, more beans. Then I developed a bean and peanut allergy, which was not fun.
I tried capsules. Do you know how many fiber capsules you have to take a day to actually hit your target? Around ten. I was already maxed out on my pill organizer. I wasn’t going up a size. I was done.
Fed Up With Fiber’s Texture Problem, I Fixed It Myself
So I started tinkering. I’m a three-cups-of-something-going-at-all-times kind of person. If I was going to take fiber, it needed to be the drink I was already reaching for — not a separate chore. The problem with most fiber powders is the gel. You mix them, walk away for two minutes, and you’ve got something that belongs in a science fair.
That’s when FiberBlisss came into the picture. It’s a fortified juice powder, not a supplement, and that distinction matters more than it sounds. I formulated it with acacia fiber and cellulose specifically because they’re insoluble. The drink settles, but a quick swirl and it’s back. You can sip it all day.
Twenty percent of my formula is the actual fruit I’m telling you is in the product — whole fruit powder, not just “natural flavors.” It tastes like juice because it is juice. Close your eyes and imagine taking ripe fruit, squeezing it, adding some water. That’s the flavor profile.
No added sugar. No fillers. No dyes. Nothing weird. The three flavors are Berry Blisss (blueberry and pomegranate), Orange Oasisss (orange and pineapple), and Strawberry Sasss (strawberry and pineapple). Each one is boosted with our FeelBlisss Blend — ginger, quercetin, magnesium, and pantothenic acid — to help with inflammation and keep your digestion from staging a protest.
The Pill Organizer Was Full. Something Had to Change.
My health situation didn’t start with a bad fiber powder. I’ve been diabetic for about 20 years. I’ve taken all the medications, done all the diet programs, tried all the things that people like me get pointed toward — and then quietly failed with.
I spent most of my twenties taking care of my parents. They were self-employed. They died young. Neither of them actually got to retire. They just got too sick to work. That was their retirement.
I did my life a little in reverse. I took my gap year at 35. I left a corporate finance career — nearly two decades of doing the books for other people’s brands — and I finally stopped. I spent time making up for all the living I’d put on hold. And when I came out of that, I started formulating.
It was a home remedy at first. Something to help me feel better without adding more pills to the organizer. That home remedy is what became FiberBlisss.
42 Million Families the Wellness Industry Forgot
One thing I kept coming back to while I was formulating was access. Growing up, I experienced homelessness and food scarcity. That doesn’t leave you. And when I started thinking about who actually needs a product like this, I kept landing on the same number: roughly 42 million American families are on SNAP benefits and don’t have reliable access to high-fiber foods.
Not because they don’t want it. Because the industry never built it for them.
Supplements are never SNAP-covered. Fresh produce can be financially out of reach — or physically out of reach if you live rurally, like I do. Better-for-you brands almost always launch in the four big metros and call it a day. I went the other direction.
FiberBlisss is SNAP eligible. I formulated with conventional, clean-label ingredients to serve the 95% of Americans who are fiber deficient. We’re launching Midwest-first — Kroger Nashville and chain-wide at Fresh Thyme by early May.
I Was the Only New Fiber Brand at Expo — and I Noticed
At Natural Products Expo West this year, I was the only new fiber brand on the floor. Not the only fiber product — the only new company. Everyone else was a line extension of something that already existed. A lot of people told me they expected to see more. I wasn’t entirely surprised, but I was paying attention.
Fiber has been stuck in the supplement section for decades, treated like medicine instead of food. That means millions of people who genuinely need it — people managing diabetes, digestive issues, or just trying to eat better on a tight budget — keep running into the same dead ends I did. Clinical. Expensive. Hard to actually enjoy.
The beverage aisle is where this belongs. The mass middle, the overlooked, the underserved — they deserve a real answer, not a line extension.
I built FiberBlisss at the intersection of where I came from, where I’m at, and where I’m going.
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About The Author
Roxanne McBride is the founder of FiberBlisss, a fortified juice powder brand built on whole fruit ingredients and a firm belief that fiber belongs in the beverage aisle, not the supplement section. After nearly two decades in finance and accounting, she left corporate life to create the product she couldn’t find on any shelf. FiberBlisss is SNAP eligible and available at fiberblisss.com.
