Around 8.5 million people in the UK have opted for a gluten free diet. Whether this is due to serious health issues like celiac disease or an intolerance that can cause discomfort to daily lives, those that have made the change are having to turn to alternative food brands.
When on a gluten-free diet, a trip to the supermarket can be a daunting and stressful experience where consumers are subjected to a small section of an aisle and, often having to splash the cash on a limited range of products.
Have no fear though, because times are changing, and supermarkets are offering an ever-widening range of suitable foods. We’ve looked at some top gluten-free brands available to you:
BFree opened their doors in 2011 with a goal to bring customers gluten and wheat free alternatives for their everyday favourite baked goods. Since then they have expanded beyond the UK into the US, Australia and Scandinavia, among others.
Always with the customer at its heart, BFree founder Ronan McNamee and General Manager Alex Murphy took to research and test-marketing in a pop-up shop off Dublin’s Grafton Street. The pop-up planned to be open for two weeks but stayed for three months and within that time received irreplaceable feedback from customers.
Today, BFree owns 10% of the free-from segment in the UK with the US as their strongest emerging marketing accounting for 40% of sales. Constantly innovating and making products accessible to every dietary requirement, BFree offers a range of rolls, wraps, bread and more.
Mr Lee’s Noodles not only taste great but have a wonderful story behind the brand. After being diagnosed with cancer and told he had a few weeks to live, Damien Lee, founder and CEO of Mr Lee’s Noodles, had to adopt a totally different lifestyle which meant sacrificing his guilty pleasure of instant noodles.
So, after surviving cancer he decided to launch his own instant noodle brand. Specialising in gluten-free, gourmet, and healthy rice noodle cups using noodles sourced directly from Vietnam, real meat, and no MSG’s, artificial flavourings or additives, award-winning Mr Lee’s Noodles now retails across the UK, Germany, Australia, America and Scandinavia.
With the instant noodle market worth over £40bn, Lee has had to work to make Mr Lee’s Noodles stand out to consumers and, by taking the approach of ‘thinking global, not local’, he chose to launch Mr Lee’s Noodles with a .com website to attract as much international custom as possible.
We think Mr Lee’s story is fantastic and he also produces some pretty great noodles too.
Schär’s mission is to make consumer’s gluten free life easier. Their vast range of products include bread, roll, crackers, ice cream, biscuits, pizza and flour for home baking.
The brand not only supplies a huge range of gluten-free products but also educates consumers on gluten intolerances and how you can still eat delicious food with little inconvenience. Their website hosts the usual recipe inspiration alongside a range of guides on the best rated stores to buy gluten-free products, the best places to eat out and even the best hotels to stay in when travelling. Super helpful for the gluten-free traveller.
Matteo and Nick met whilst working at the White Rabbit Pub in Oxford where Matteo was a chef in the kitchen and Nick behind the bar.
Matteo was using his skills and traditional Italian recipes to refine the existing pub pizza menu, but at the same time, the pub was being inundated with requests for free-from versions.
Matteo and Nick began to develop a unique ‘free-from’ Italian recipe and after a year of refinement and customer taste testing The White Rabbit Pizza Company was born. Matteo designed the ever-growing artisan bakehouse from scratch providing the brand’s competitive advantage.
Borough 22’s Gluten Free Doughnuts
Admittedly not available in a supermarket, but we wanted to hail the London based gluten free doughnuts from BOROUGH 22. The brainchild of Ryan Panchoo back in 2011 after his wife and children began suffering with gluten and dairy intolerances. On family outings it became evident that there were very few multi-allergen friendly products and a severe lack of quality in the few choices that were offered.
Three years later, in 2014, after many hours of research and tweaking, Panchoo crafted a recipe for firstly gluten free, then dairy and soya free and finally egg free doughnuts meaning they were completely vegan too.
Nominated for several industry awards including the Silver Award in the Free From Eating Out Awards 2016 and a Great Taste Award for his cinnamon sugared doughnut these doughnuts are a guilty pleasure well worth it.
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