The market for gluten-free products is experiencing stellar growth. The Australian gluten-free bakery category alone is currently valued at $48.5 million and is growing at 30.5 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest data from Aztec.
According to its figures, 7.4 per cent of Australian households have bought gluten-free loaves in the past year. The growing number of people diagnosed with coeliac disease and gluten intolerance can partly explain the rise, but health-conscious consumers are also jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon.
While health professionals remain sceptical about the trend, manufacturers are moving in to tap the rising demand with more product lines and, importantly, better quality products.
Goodman Fielder, for instance, recently decided to reformulate its Country Life Bakery gluten-free range of loaves. It’s a significant move for gluten-free consumers considering Country Life leads the gluten-free loaf segment in Australia with 85.2 per cent volume share, according to Aztec figures.
Country Life Bakery’s reformulation, which promised softer, lighter and dairy-free loaves, was launched with new packaging last August.
According to Trish Nichitean, Goodman Fielder’s senior brand manager of premium brands, gluten-free bread has traditionally been dense, sweet and cake-like, and most people would toast it in order to improve the quality.
“It seemed incredible to us that gluten-free bread consumers could not enjoy sandwiches,” Nichitean says. “It became our mission to develop a loaf which was soft and light like regular bread and could be eaten without toasting.”
According to Nichitean, the reformulation of the range became a ‘passion project’ for many Goodman Fielder staff.
“The team worked tirelessly on the project for two years to ensure that we could provide consumers with the best gluten-free bread,” she says. “The new formulation was a significant step forward from our previous formulation.”
Feedback from consumers,
in letters and at trade shows, is positive, she says. “It’s been
a very gratifying project to work on. We will continue to look at
ways to improve our bread – that’s part of Country Life Bakery’s
philosophy.”
Loaf lowdown
New attributes of the reformulated Country Life Bakery gluten-free loaf:
- Texture of bread softer and lighter
- Bread now dairy free
- Increased size of slices more suitable for sandwiches
- An additional two slices included per pack
- New packaging format to seal the loaf and keep it fresher for longer
- Salt decreased to meet industry standards
