glüf is an award-winning gluten-free restaurant app for coeliacs
- Nicola Gray
- Mar 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 5
glüf was built to solve a real problem for people with coeliac disease. That work has been recognised by some of the most respected organisations in food, drink, hospitality, and technology. We are proud to say that we are now an award winning app for coeliacs to find gluten-free restaurants!
Hospitality Businesswoman of the Year, 2026
Nicola Gray, CEO and co-founder of glüf, won Hospitality Businesswoman of the Year at the Women in Food and Drink Awards 2026. Nicola founded glüf as the wife of a coeliac, bringing 13 years of experience in international sales strategy and category growth to building a platform that puts coeliac safety first. This award recognises the commercial and community impact she has driven since launch.
Shortlisted: StartUp for Good, South East, 2026
Glüf has been shortlisted for the UK Startup Awards in the Startup for Good category for the South East region, recognising the platform's mission to help people with coeliac disease eat out safely and with confidence. Helping people is embedded in our philosophy, its why we are free to use!
Shortlisted: Entrepreneur of the Year, Functions & Services, 2026
Nicola was shortlisted for the Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Functions and Services category at the Women in Food and Drink Awards 2026, recognising her work in building glüf from a personal mission into a platform serving over 1,000 coeliacs across the UK.
Shortlisted: Innovator of the Year, Supply Chain & Services, 2026
Nicola & glüf were shortlisted for Innovator of the Year in the Supply Chain and Services category at the Women in Food and Drink Awards 2026. This shortlisting recognises glüf's approach to using AI and structured community feedback to generate up-to-date restaurant safety profiles, addressing a gap that no existing tool had solved for the coeliac community.
Alpha Startup: Web Summit, 2025
Web Summit, 2025
glüf was selected as an Alpha Startup at Web Summit 2025, one of the world's largest and most competitive technology conferences. The Alpha programme selects early-stage startups demonstrating genuine innovation and real-world traction. glüf was chosen from thousands of applicants globally, representing the UK's coeliac community on an international stage. Read our blog to learn more about our experience in Portugal.
Best Speciality Diet Restaurant Guide 2026
glüf was named Best Speciality Diet Restaurant Guide 2026 by the Leaders in Luxury Awards. This award recognises excellence in serving specialist dietary needs at the highest standard. For a bootstrapped startup built around coeliac safety, being recognised alongside luxury hospitality brands reflects the trust glüfers have placed in the platform.
Why recognition matters, and why it doesn't change anything
Awards are not why glüf exists. glüf exists because 77% of people with coeliac disease have been accidentally exposed to gluten when eating out (Coeliac UK, 2025), and because no reliable tool existed to help them make safer decisions.
Recognition from the food, hospitality, and technology industries matters because it signals that the problem glüf is solving is real, that the approach is credible, and that the community building it deserves to be taken seriously. It opens doors to restaurant partnerships, press coverage, and investment conversations that help glüf reach more coeliacs.
But the measure that matters most is simpler: over 1,000 people with coeliac disease now use glüf to make safer, more confident decisions about where to eat. Active users come back an average of four times a month. That is what glüf is here for.
Download glüf free on iOS and Android at www.gluf-app.com.
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