Explorado Market, supplying Fort Collins residents with gluten-free baked goods and sweet treats since 2018, will be making the move to 11 Old Town Square this spring, as first reported in The Coloradoan.
“We take possession March 1,” co-founder Rob Benson said in a conversation with What Now Denver. “As soon as we can get everything revamped, cleaned, and tested, we’ll open up.”
By “cleaned,” Benson means a more intense process than a new bakery would typically undergo. Explorado is made for folks across the spectrum of gluten-free folk — from keto eaters to individuals with extremely sensitive Celiac issues. Therefore, the new locale will undergo a deep decontamination to make sure that no gluten is present before bakers begin cooking.
While there may not be any sugar or wheat germ, Explorado does not cut back on flavor. Christmas cookies, pumpkin pies, donuts, carrot cake — you name it and they’ve got the gluten-free goods. These are flavored by naturally sweet foods and alternative sweeteners that don’t register on the sugar scale.
“We’ve got two almond butters: chocolate and a strawberry lime made from freeze-dried strawberries and lime juice mixed with an alternative sweetener that measures zero on the glycemic index. So people can get high fat, high protein from a dedicated gluten-free facility,” Benson said.
That’s Explorado’s entire purpose: to provide options for those people who don’t have a lot of them when they go out for food. Benson even wears a glucose monitor in the kitchen to make sure products remain gluten-free. Towards that end, Explorado Market is also legume-free to be inclusive to peanut allergy sufferers.
Explorado’s new space will be similar in size to its current residence with a capacity of around 35 people spreading out over 2000 sq. ft. Owners plan for the new Old Town Square spot to be open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
