FDBusiness.com

The gluten and wheat free market in the UK is continuing to show strong growth. Latest Kantar Worldpanel data (52 w/e 26 December 2010), commissioned by gluten free brand leader DS-gluten free, shows that the total gluten and wheat free market is now worth more than £120.2m – up 14.8% year on year. Bread, sweet biscuits and cakes are proving the top drivers of value sales, with frozen gluten and wheat free products also performing well.

“It’s great to see the market continuing to grow at such a rapid pace, and brands such as DS-gluten free are still performing incredibly well. In fact, we continue to be the number one brand in the UK, and second in the overall gluten free sector – which includes both brands and private label,” says Emma Herring, retail brand manager at DS-gluten free. “There’s tremendous potential for retailers to tap further into this market. This is definitely going to be another exciting year for the gluten free sector, and with one in 100 people in the UK now thought to have coeliac disease, and many others deciding to follow a gluten free diet for lifestyle reasons, there’s real potential for continued and significant sector growth”

DS gluten free is a Nutrition Point brand. Established in 1999, Nutrition Point has two other gluten free brands in the UK, Glutafin, which is available on prescription, and Trufree, which offers a range of wheat and gluten free products in the supermarkets.

Nutrition Point is part of Dr Schar, the leading manufacturer of gluten free foods in Europe. The Dr Schär Group is based in South Tyrol in Italy. It operates dedicated gluten free manufacturing facilities in Italy and Germany.