• Opportunities in the FreeFrom world •

Michelle Berriedale-Johnson

• A history lesson •

The 1990s

• Increase in number of children suffering from allergies reaching school age

• Concurrent founding of vocal support groups - Anaphylaxis Campaign, Allergy UK etc

• Increased awareness of prevalence of coeliac disease

• Recognition, especially in popular press that many people suffering from low level of ill-defined ill health which their doctor could not treat and which might be connected with what they ate.

• Celeb adoption of ‘allergy’ - Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow et alia

• Official (DOH/FSA) focus on some foods as precursor to ill health focused attention on all food as possible cause of ill health.

• Growing epidemic of obesity - could it be related to ‘allergic’ foods? Books such as ‘Lose Wheat, Lose Weight’

• Growth in organic, fair trade, focused attention on quality of food, feeding into a growing awareness of food’s possible impact on health.

• FreeFrom in the 1990s •

• Not called FreeFrom – ‘special diet food’…

• Not really in supermarkets

• Dairy-free market served by vegetarian/ soya manufacturers – Alpro, Haldane etc

• Gluten-free market served by coeliac manufacturers – Juvela, Glutafin, Barkat – mainly prescription products.

• FreeFrom 2000–2005 •

Two major changes:

• Burgeoning interest of the supermarkets

• Arrival of internet marketing

• Burgeoning interest of supermarkets •

• Patricia Wheway at Tesco

• Sainsbury own label range

• Variable interest depending on buyer

• Internet Marketing •

Enabled enthusiastic individuals to set up in business with virtually no start up costs and sell direct to the public without the need for distribution

• Food industry 2000–2005 •

• Growth of craft food industries, unwittingly tapped into growing allergy market

• Allergy awareness growing within the industry

• 2005–2011 FreeFrom gathering pace •

• First FreeFrom seminar– 2006

• Adapting existing products – Lactofree

• Dedicated manufacturing sites

• Technical developments – – Genius– Pastas– Swedish Glace & Booja Booja

• Improved packaging, nutritional profile and marketing/advertising spend

• 2008 – the first FreeFrom Food Awards!

• 2011 onwards • Underlying problems have not

changed – they have just got worse!

• Ever increasing incidence of allergy/ intolerance (diagnosed and self-diagnosed) – could be 10% of the population.

• These people need to buy freefrom

• Ever rising incidence of coeliac disease and gluten intolerance – could soon be well over 1 in 50 - 2% of the population.

• These people need to buy freefrom

• Ever growing obesity epidemic – 60% UK population now overweight...

• These people may need to buy freefrom

• Encouraged by health writers complementary practitioners and sustainability campaigners more and more people are questioning

– Where their food came from

– How it was manufactured

– Whether it has an impact on their health

– Whether it is making them/their family fat

Many of these people are choosing to buy freefrom food because they think is better for their health and/or the environment.

Current surveys suggest that:

• 10% of the population buy freefrom because of an allergy/intolerance problem

• Up to 40% of shoppers buy freefrom foods on a ‘regularly occasional’ basis even though they have no medical need to do so.

And this number is going up!

• So, where next? •

• FreeFrom needs to become mainstream - but…

• To become truly mainstream Freefrom needs to taste as good as the mainstream so that…

• Its ‘freefrom’-ness becomes a plus point, not a raison d’etre.

• At that point it can move on to be THE mainstream

• But – how to get there…

• Quality – supplant the ‘normal’ •

More NPD – freefrom products need to taste better, be healthier and cover a wider range –

– more ready meals

– snack products

– treat products

– more products replicating mainstream categories

• FreeFrom products need to replicate non-freefrom products and to taste as good or better so that whole families can eat freefrom even if only one member actually needs or chooses to do so.

• Remove allergens from existing products

• Review portfolio to see whether a minor reformulation would create a freefrom version of an existing, well loved product.

• Listen to your market •

Allergy & GlutenFree Show 2011 survey – (approximate figures only)

• 60% shopped free weekly/bi-weekly

• 70% wanted to be able to buy all freefrom food in a supermarket and 75% wanted to find it in the main aisle and not in a dedicated freefrom area

• 80% found ‘freefrom’ symbols helpful, 85% wanted to see ‘dairy free’/’wheat free’ etc flashed on the front of freefrom products

• 80% wanted to see a full nutritional breakdown on packs

• For 70% of freefrom shoppers the taste was the most important aspect, for 60% its reliability in terms of allergen exclusion and for 40% its nutritional profile.

• Delivery charges and the difficulty of taking delivery of their goods prevented four out of every five shoppers from buying on line.

• Harness the ‘feel good’ factor •

For the average consumer, buying an organic, free trade or local version of a product will give them a ‘warm glow’ – freefrom needs to do the same:Cornflakes are nice, but if the freefrom cornflakes are just as nice and are better for me/my family, then why don’t I buy those and do us all some good at the same time?

However…

If free from is to become ‘mainstream’ let alone THE mainstream… it has to be…

• Available •

• Online is great – but not enough

• Into the corner shop, the motorway service station, the delis, the farmers markets

• Out of the supermarket dedicated fixture and into the main aisles.

and… into food service:

• Restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, hotels

• Canteens, factories

• Hospitals, schools, care homes

• Everywhere you buy food to eat on the hoof

Food service offer huge opportunities for freefrom

• Coeliac UK recently assessed the potential market for gluten-free food in restaurants for coeliacs (and their friends) at around £100 million

• And that is just coeliacs who make up less than 20% of the total number of potential ‘freefrom’ customers

At the moment freefrom ‘diners’ are very poorly provided for.

• Problems inherent in catering for allergics and intolerants

– High turnover of staff– Poor grasp of the language– Minimal training

– Frequently changing menus– High risk of contamination– Menus/ingredients lists

• Ideally food service outlets will learn to cater safely for freefrom customers (another

whole subject…) but there is also a…

• Huge opportunity for quality ready- made freefrom products:

– Complete meals

– Individual dishes

– Mixes, batters, bhaji mix, biscuit bases

– Desserts, ice creams

• Advantages of ready made freefrom products in food service

For the customer:

– Safety - the product is secure from kitchen contamination and staff error

– They can read the ingredients so know exactly what they are eating

For the outlet:

– Safety - they do not need to worry about kitchen contamination

– Staff training and allergy awareness becomes far less of an issue.

• As for retail, so for food service…

• If the ‘freefrom’ version tastes as good as the ‘standard’ product it can be served to everyone.

• If restaurant can offer good ‘freefrom’ food, freefrom customers will bring their whole party in their wake

• Caveat – freefrom manufacturing may offer great

opportunities but it is not without problems

– Cost of ingredients

– Product development more challenging

– Thresholds

– Testing – cost and inconvenience

– Labelling – allergen warnings etc

– Duty of care, due diligence, product recalls

FreeFrom Food Awards

• The industry’s very own awards!! Heavily supported from start by the industry.

• Now in their 5th year - ever bigger and better!

• Existence of the awards encourages excellence & innovation

• Recognition of the awards and the awards logo increases awareness and profile of freefrom food.

Best networking party in town!

Michelle Berriedale-Johnson

michelle@foodsmatter.com

www.foodsmatter.comwww.freefromfoodsmatter.comwww.freefromfoodawards.co.uk