Carman's is competing in one of the most hotly contested food and drink categories in the UK. The company will go head to head with specialist companies such as luxury breakfast brand Dorset Cereals, which was bought last month by Wellness Foods, Eat Natural and the household cereal names Kellogg's, Quaker and Jordans. Carman's secret weapon is that a number of its mueslis are fruit-free, which founder Carolyn Creswell says is unique in the UK. All Jordans's mueslis, for example, contain raisins or sultanas, as do the eight mueslis in Dorset Cereals' portfolio. While cereal companies do produce fruit-free ranges, these tend to be nut cluster or granola-style products as opposed to standard mueslis. "One in 10 people don't eat dried fruit but it is unusual to find a muesli in the UK that is fruit-free," says Creswell. "Many of our customers buy our mueslis because they don't like raisins or because they are intolerant to them. We have a captive audience among this 10% of people." Dorset Cereals is Carman's main rival - its products carry a similar price tag - but Carman's will also have to compete with other specialist brands that target the same top-end retailers. It could have difficulties because many of these brands are also organic, which Carman's is not. Organic cereal brand Bodymatter, which produces two fruit-free cereals and two others, is one potential rival, with listings in Daylesford Organic, Planet Organic and Whole Foods Market. Brands such as Alara Wholefoods and Rude Health are also in direct competition, as is Jordans, which has five organic cereals in its portfolio. Not having an organic line could make it harder to compete in the short term, admits Creswell. However, Carman's will have an organic product within two years, she says. "We are looking at organic but Australians are only prepared to pay about 5% more for products and we wouldn't have the volumes to make it worthwhile over there. But we are looking into it and we know how important organic is to the UK market."