Tipping Point: Gluten Free
Gluten-free products have graduated from dusty health food stores to aisles designated for “alternative” products in supermarkets. Recently some major food brands have taken gluten-free marketing to the mainstream. Post Cereals (an MMC client) went through a rigorous process to achieve gluten-free status for its rice-based Pebbles Cereal. General Mills is now advertising its Chex cereal, among some 250 other products, as gluten free; held a gluten-free summit for online influencers at its headquarters; and hosts a website called LiveGlutenFreely.com. Kellogg’s is getting ready to launch a brown rice, gluten-free version of Rice Krispies. These moves illustrate a growing awareness and concern around a complex dietary problem that afflicts an estimated 1 in 133 Americans.
Though one percent of Americans may be affected by celiac disease, nearly 16 percent of adults consider themselves regular consumers of gluten-free products according to a report from Packaged Facts. As more people embrace a gluten-free diet– whether due to a celiac diagnosis, gluten intolerance or general health concerns–we are sure to see more gluten-free products hit supermarket shelves.
Gluten-free labeling could be the next challenge for the USDA, but for now consumers are left to decide whether they require products certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization (GFCO) or are comfortable with a manufacturer’s self-certified gluten-free labeling. Partnering with organizations like The Celiac Disease Foundation, as General Mills has done, also brings credibility to gluten-free product development. Certification and even separate manufacturing facilities could mean significant investment for food makers, but that commitment– along with offering a tasty product–could help them win share of the growing gluten-free stomach.
I spoke with Nicole Hunn, author of the blog Gluten Free on a Shoestring, whose 7-year-old son was diagnosed with celiac disease as an infant. Hunn prepares gluten-free meals not just for her son but for the whole family, which for marketers means the audience for gluten-free foods is much larger than just those individuals who have celiac disease. Her journey experimenting with pre-packaged gluten-free products by mail order to creating her own formulas and recipes on a budget landed her a book deal based on her blog, released this month by Da Capo Lifelong Books. Hunn’s book is timely, as the Packaged Facts report projects U.S. sales of gluten-free foods and beverages to exceed $5 billion by 2015.
LFC: What would you like to see from food manufacturers?
NH: If more companies would make gluten-free bread that isn’t frozen, it would taste better and the price would come down. Simple changes can be made in many products, like using malt not derived from barley. LaChoy soy sauce is gluten free, and Kikoman is coming out with a gluten-free variety as well. I’d just like to see more gluten-free products that taste good; so many of the packaged gluten-free products taste so bad.
LFC: What do you think of companies that are claiming gluten-free on their packaging?
NH: There’s not a tremendous amount of regulation for products. I’m happy to see the products offered, but I’d like to be assured of freedom from cross contamination. But the more common place it becomes, the better for all of us. It goes a long way to keeping costs down, and by economies of scale large companies can offer a more economical product any place in the country.
Photo courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
