glüf is an AI-powered restaurant discovery platform for people living with coeliac disease. It helps coeliacs find restaurants that are genuinely safe to eat at, not just places that offer gluten-free options. It is free for users.

glüf uses large language model technology to generate safety profiles for restaurants based on publicly available data. After visiting a restaurant, users can leave structured feedback against four criteria: staff knowledge, labelling clarity, gluten-free variety, and taste. These ratings feed back into the algorithm, improving profiles over time.

Yes. glüf is free for users and intends to remain that way. Revenue comes from restaurants through sponsored listings, direct bookings, and verified restaurant features.

Is glüf available in the UK?

Yes. glüf is currently focused on the UK market, with over 1,000 registered users. It is available on iOS and Android.

What is the difference between coeliac disease and gluten intolerance?

Coeliac disease is a serious autoimmune condition where ingestion of gluten causes damage to the small intestine. Gluten intolerance or non-coeliac gluten sensitivity causes symptoms without the same autoimmune response. They are different conditions. glüf is built primarily for people with coeliac disease, where the health consequences of gluten exposure are most serious.

glüf Wins Innovator of the Year at the 2026 Women in Food and Drink Awards

The Glüf Team
May 8
4 min read

A burgundy banner with a pitcure of Nicola, the founder of a gluten-free app to help coeliacs eat out with confidence. The text reads "we're winners. Women in Food & Drinks Awards 2026 - Winner gluf"

Founder Nicola Gray's coeliac dining platform takes home the Innovator of the Year title in the Supply Chain and Services category, marking a milestone moment for accessible dining in the UK.

The 2026 Women in Food and Drink Awards have crowned glüf as Innovator of the Year in the Supply Chain and Services category. Founded by Nicola, alongside Jack and Harry, glüf is the AI-powered restaurant discovery platform built for people with coeliac disease, and the win recognises a year of measurable progress in solving one of the most overlooked problems in UK hospitality: how to find a restaurant that genuinely understands cross-contamination.

What the Innovator of the Year award recognises

The Women in Food and Drink Awards celebrate women whose work is reshaping the food and drink supply chain across the UK and Ireland. The Supply Chain and Services category specifically honours those whose technology, services, or operational thinking delivers real change for the wider industry.

For glüf, the recognition lands on a platform built around four specific gluten-free ratings that matter to coeliac diners:

Staff knowledge
Labelling clarity
Gluten-free variety
Taste

These are not vague trust scores. They are the four factors that determine whether a meal out feels possible or like a risk.

The problem glüf is solving

77% of people with coeliac disease report being accidentally exposed to gluten when eating out (Coeliac UK, 2025). For a condition where the only treatment is strict, lifelong avoidance of gluten, that figure represents a daily, lived reality of anxiety, illness and missed social moments.

It also represents a commercial gap. UK restaurants miss an estimated £47.8 million in revenue every year due to reduced coeliac dining frequency, and globally that number rises to $7.1 billion. People with coeliac disease are not asking for a niche menu. They are asking for the confidence to walk through the door.

glüf was built to close that gap.

How glüf works

glüf uses AI combined with publicly available data to build live, up-to-date gluten-free ratings for restaurants across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. After visiting, users (known as glüfers) leave structured post-visit feedback against the four KPIs above. That feedback feeds back into the algorithm, so ratings improve continuously rather than going stale on a forgotten review thread.

Key things that set glüf apart:

National coverage without relying solely on crowd-sourced reviews
Continuous updates as new feedback comes in
Free for users, with revenue coming from restaurants and suppliers - if you're interested in partnering with us, then get in touch!
Built-in community so users can share photos and recommendations with other glüfers

glüf reduces the risk of getting it wrong. It does not eliminate that risk. Diners should still inform restaurant staff of their dietary needs, and restaurants should still treat gluten-free requests with the seriousness they deserve.

Why this matters for restaurants

For hospitality professionals, the win is more than an industry headline. It signals that the gluten-free conversation has moved on from "do you have a gluten-free menu?" to "do you have a kitchen that can be trusted with a gluten-free order?"

Coeliacs eat out less than the general population, but those who find a venue they trust come back. They bring partners, families and colleagues. They tip the table average upward and become repeat customers in a way few other diner segments match.

For restaurant operators, partnering with glüf means:

Verified visibility to a high-loyalty customer base
Direct feedback from coeliac diners against the KPIs that matter
A clear signal to the wider market that gluten-free is taken seriously in your kitchen
Access to a growing community of 1,200+ users returning an average of four times per month

This is supply chain innovation that lives at the customer-facing end of hospitality. The award reflects that.

Built from lived experience

Nicola founded glüf alongside co-founders Jack (CTO) and Harry (CIO) after watching her husband, who has coeliac disease, navigate the constant guesswork of eating out. The team blends 13+ years of international CPG experience, cyber security and software expertise, and consulting, all directed at one job: making coeliac dining less stressful.

That lived-experience foundation is reflected in how glüf has grown. 1,200+ users, organic and bootstrapped, with active glüfers returning four times a month. Recognition from Web Summit's Alpha Startup programme, Hospitality Business Woman of the Year 2026, and now Innovator of the Year at the Women in Food and Drink Awards.

For coeliac diners: try glüf today

If you have coeliac disease and you have ever stood outside a restaurant Googling reviews and trying to guess whether the kitchen actually understands cross-contamination, glüf was built for you.

Find places that actually get it, rated against staff knowledge, labelling clarity, gluten-free variety and taste
Read structured feedback from other gluten-free diners, not generic foodie reviews
Save and share the venues that work for you with friends, family and the wider community
Free to download and use across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Stop guessing, start glüfing. Download glüf and join 1,200+ glüfers already eating out with more confidence.

What's next

The Innovator of the Year title is a marker, not an endpoint. glüf continues to expand restaurant coverage, establish partnerships with hospitality groups, and refine the gluten-free ratings that diners and operators rely on. There is a long way to go before every coeliac in the UK can eat out without a stomach knot of doubt. But this week, that goal is one good win closer.

glüf is the AI-powered restaurant discovery platform for people with coeliac disease. Available across the UK on iOS and Android. Download the app and join the glüfer community.