Doug Roberts knows his targeted audience.

The president of Naturally ME, Inc., makers of all-natural ingredient pies, is counting on the hundreds of millions of people with dietary restrictions to make his product a success.

"Label readers are our friends," said Roberts from the company's manufacturing plant located on Main Street in Richmond. "We don't expect to please everybody. What we want is to please the 150 million Americans with food allergies. We're offering something to these people that they don't have a choice on."

His company's pies do that more. Be it the Apple or Blueberry Streusel, Chocolate Mouse, Pumpkin or Apple Cranberry variety, the desserts are unimaginably natural.

They contain no wheat and gluten, no transfat, no dairy, no additives or preservatives, no cholesterol, no corn, and no refined sugars.

And that has Roberts hoping that diabetics, hypoglycemics, celiacs, vegans, lactose intolerant customers and any other health-conscious customers will be pulling Natural Feast-brand pies off grocery store shelves.

"We're in a market where there's no competition but we realize that quality matters, that taste has to be there," said Roberts, who lives in Boothbay Harbor.

Just a few years ago, however, taste was the furthest thing from Roberts' mind.

A wholesale-retail tire storeowner in Massachusetts for 17 years, Roberts ventured into the food manufacturing business at the behest of a former classmate who was looking for investment capital to develop recipes he had created specifically for people with celiac disease.

"I had always been interested in eating healthy. I'd always been a label reader," said Roberts. "It looked intriguing to me so I decided to get on board."

But the venture proved disastrous. After moving to a manufacturing plant in Spokane, Wash., Roberts and other investors were eventually forced to put Natural Feast into involuntary bankruptcy; the result of what he described as a slew of mismanagement blunders by the founding partner.

Still, the group had seen enough to believe that under proper management, the company could prosper.

"At that point we knew the product, we believed in the product and we knew what we could do," said Roberts. "It has not been an easy haul. We've run into all kinds of obstacles."

After settling on Maine, and more specifically Richmond, the company poured thousands of dollars into its manufacturing facility.

"We have done everything by the book, to a T, from square one," said Roberts. "This is state-of-the-art. We don't allow any of the forbidden ingredients to get into the place at all. Period. We want to be three steps ahead of the Food and Drug Administration in terms of cleanliness requirements."

Now, with Executive Chef Craig Bessermin also relocating to Maine, Natural Feast is poised to hit its stride. Though the company currently does 50 percent of its sales in October, November and December, the remaining months are spent lining up distributors and vendors and spreading the word about these shame-free pies.

"You can eat our pies for breakfast and not feel guilty," said Roberts.

And there's also never-ending quality control. Roberts said he's constantly weighing fruit in competitors' pies, and has yet to find one that matches Natural Feast's one-pound total.

Eventually, Roberts hopes to diversify the company's product line to include breads, brownies, and dry mixes.

For now though, Natural Feast will continue to focus on reaching its targeted audience. Roberts is keenly aware of one thing. He's not after everyone: just a particular piece of the pie.

(Editor's note: Natural Feast pies can be purchased at Hannaford in Boothbay Harbor. To learn more about the company, log on to their Web site at www.naturalfeast.com )