Although ZamLows is only a few years old, the company has a rich and fascinating history. The store was originally named Zambo’s 100% Sugar-Free Store, named for its founder, Joanne Zambo.  

Ms. Zambo fought a weight problem all her life, so when her father was diagnosed with diabetes, she began watching what they both ate. She had to search and search for sugar free products. She found different products in many different places. Zambo wanted a convenient place to shop. Unfortunately, she found none. That’s when she decided to open her own sugar free store. 

Charlene Connell Brown’s passion for the sugar free business began in a deeply personal manner. She had loved ones who were affected by sugar in several different ways. 

Charlene loved her Grandfather. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with diabetes. Instead of being able to eat the wonderful, Southern desserts with the rest of the family, he would have to leave the table because he was not allowed to eat sugar. Later, he and Charlene would sneak back into the kitchen and eat those desserts that he was not allowed to eat. At the time, Charlene had no clue that eating sugar was actually harming to her grandfather. A few years later, he died from complications with diabetes. 

In addition, Charlene’s father was a pediatrician for forty years. Over that time, he saw a sudden rise in the obesity problem. He also noticed the number of children being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD was also growing at a frightening pace. The other problem he noticed growing rapidly was juvenile diabetes. These issues made him suspicious as to the cause of these increases. One of the first things he did was tell parents to watch what their children ate. He suspected sugar as a contributing factor in all three of these problems. 

Meanwhile, Charlene owned a private preschool in Atlanta, GA for several years, and was a top selling real estate agent. Because she learned to be an excellent business woman, she knew a great idea when she saw it. She knew a sugar free store would not only be profitable as a business, but she also felt it could help people be healthy. She felt this was her calling: To make a living teaching people to eat sugar free and live a healthy lifestyle. 

In November 2002, Charlene Connell Brown bought the retail store from a retiring Ms. Zambo. Brown’s initial concept was to franchise the retail side of the business. She wanted to trademark the name of the company. Her initial thought was to keep the name Zambo’s to retain history to the company. However, personal names cannot be trademarked until you have been in business for fifteen years. So, with a little creative thinking and the boom of the low-carb industry, the name ZamLows was trademarked. After two years in the retail business, Brown converted the operations to an internet business.  

In addition to trademarking the name, she wanted a logo; a simple but catchy symbol to use on the web site, menus, labels, and recipes. Brown came up with the bumble bee. One of the most frequently asked questions is “What is the significance of the bumble bee?” A bee produces honey, of course, which is a form of sugar. Honey is excellent tasting and has lots of natural sugars. When you do business with ZamLows, we know you will have the same pleasure of taste with honey, but without all the sugars. Just stay in touch with ZamLows and you will learn the “buzzzzz” about sugar free! 

When Brown began eating sugar free, she lost twenty pounds. She says, “Eliminating sugar from my diet has made me feel better than I have since playing basketball in high school. Initially, I had to use the ketone strips to determine when I was in ketosis and when I was not, i.e., when I was/was not eating too many sugars and carbohydrates. You learn which foods affect you and which ones do not. Now, I have adjusted how I eat. It is a life style change, not just a diet.  The best part is the weight has stayed OFF!”

One of the many services the ZamLows store offered was cooking classes. Brown and her staff wanted people to learn to cook sugar free. During the course of these classes, Brown and her staff developed a line of desserts that are absolutely fabulous! Old family recipes were converted to sugar free, which was not an easy task! The best-selling dessert is the Traditional Southern Pecan Pie (dedicated to Brown’s grandfather), a Chocolate Pecan Pie (with just a hint of chocolate – Brown’s personal favorite), and a Pecan Fudge Pie (made especially for the chocolate lover!). ZamLows and Priesters Pecan Company (a 75-year-old company) have joined forces to distribute these magnificent pies all across the United States.  

Since ZamLows is now exclusively an internet store, it’s difficult - if not impossible - to offer cooking classes through the internet. However, ZamLows has first class costumer service. If you have a question about how a dish can be prepared sugar free, call ZamLows and they will answer your questions. The staff prides itself on constantly educating themselves to try to answer as many questions as possible to assist customers in reaching whatever goals they have set for themselves.  

One of the reasons ZamLows became an internet store is to positively impact as many lives as possible. Charlene Connell Brown remembers her grandfather who couldn’t eat the desserts like everyone else at the table. She doesn’t want anyone else to feel the way he felt. She doesn’t want anyone else to miss out on the pleasure of eating a dessert at the table with the rest of the family simply because of the amount of sugar in the dessert. Why can’t everyone at the table eat sugar free? Reducing the amount of sugar in everyone’s diet most definitely has its benefits. Let ZamLows help you eat sugar free to change your life for the better!