01 / Our process

Nothing reaches the shelf without clearing three stages.

Lab, elite athletes, then the partner trial. Every truefuels® formula earns its place before it earns your money.

02 / Lab testing

Developed by Alistair, who has used 10,000 gels.

Alistair has taken over 10,000 gels across his professional career. Enough to know exactly what most formulas fall short, and under exactly what conditions. Every new product starts in the lab with him and a team of experienced sports scientists, adjusted and re-tested long before anyone outside that room sees it.

03 / Athlete testing

Tested by 50 to 100 elite athletes in real conditions.

Once a formula clears the lab, it goes out to 50-100 elite athletes training and competing at a serious level. They report back in form. Not a controlled test, the actual sport it was built for.

04 / Partner trial

Then tested where the margins are smallest.

World-class athletes through Australian Open Startups, plus over 20 Brownlee Fitness coaches.

05 / Product launch

Only then does it reach the open market.

Every product available to buy has already been through the lab, the elite trial, and the partner trial. Nothing reaches the shelf without first clearing all three stages. There's no shortcut version.

The range grows through research, not guesswork.New studies

New studies with Arla and Leeds University shape what comes next.

What is on the shelf keeps being refined.Continued improvement

Existing products don't stop evolving once they ship. We keep testing and refining them with Leeds University and our own athletes, long after launch. The version you buy today isn't the last word on it.

06 / Philosophy

Minimalism Meets Precision

At truefuels, we believe performance nutrition should be simple, effective, and rooted in science. Every product we create is outcome-driven. Formulated with the fewest, highest-quality ingredients necessary to deliver real results. No gimmicks. No unnecessary additives. Just pure, functional fuel designed to give athletes exactly what their physiology needs.

We take a no-nonsense approach to energy and recovery. Stripping away what you don’t need and focusing on what works. This commitment to clarity and purpose runs through everything we do.

07 / Development

From Insight to Innovation

We’ve built a rigorous six-step development process that blends our backgrounds in elite sport, nutrition, science, and venture building. Every truefuels product is born from real athlete needs, tested in the field, refined in the lab, and validated by independent experts.

1. Discovering the Market Need

In 2021, Alistair working with a group of sports scientists and nutrition experts, identified a gap in the traditional energy supplement market. With decades of combined experience in elite sport and nutrition, they developed a prototype and ran early lab tests. But they knew true innovation starts with understanding athletes.

When Alistair partnered with Goran, the truefuels project officially launched. Adopting a lean startup mindset, the team validated the market need through:

Targeted Interviews with 10 high-level endurance athletes
Digital Surveys reaching over 150 athletes
Consultation with an Elite Athlete Task Force to identify performance gaps and unmet needs

This phase ensured we were solving the right problems. Grounded in athlete reality.

2. Reviewing the Science

Next, we turned to the evidence. Innovation without science is just noise.

Competitive Analysis revealed shortcomings in existing products
Scientific Literature Review focused on energy metabolism, hydration, and nutrient absorption
Collaboration with Experts helped us shape our formulation hypotheses with rigor

We ensured our foundation was built on proven research and emerging science.

3. Prototyping

We moved quickly from concept to creation using agile development. Leveraging principles of physics, chemistry, and biology to guide our formulation decisions:

Ingredient Experimentation across carbohydrate blends, amino acids, and electrolytes
Micro-Batch Production for nimble iteration
Alpha Testing with athletes to refine taste, texture, and performance impact

Fail fast. Learn fast. Improve fast. That’s how we dialed in the perfect formula.

4. Field Testing

Lab data means nothing if it doesn’t perform in the real world. So we took our prototypes outside:

Cross-Sport Testing with triathletes, cyclists, runners, and ultra-endurance athletes
Environmental Stress Trials in heat, cold, and altitude
Real-Time Feedback Loops informed rapid refinements

We tested under pressure so you can perform under pressure.

5. Lab Validation

While field data tells us how it performs, lab data tells us why. We ran multiple rounds of lab testing to ensure our formulation stood up to scrutiny:

Nutritional Accuracy confirmation
Bioavailability Analysis for optimal absorption and digestion
Shelf-Life and Stability Testing under varied conditions

This gave us the confidence to move from MVP to final product.

6. Independent Review

truefuels stands for transparency and trust. We brought in third parties to validate our final product:

Informed Sport Certification to ensure purity and safety
Advisory Panel Review by elite coaches and nutrition experts
Final Testing with athletes outside our development circle

We believe in earning credibility. Not claiming it.

“Built by athletes. Backed by science. Refined through real-world testing. That’s the truefuels way.”

08 / Learn