Baking & Snack - December 2020 - 28

GLUTEN-FREE

Ms. Cureton, a member of the Grain Foods
Foundation's Scientific Advisory Board, suggested that
the crossover market allows manufacturers to produce
gluten-free snacks and baked goods more profitably,
but she stressed that the larger group of dieters have so
many more nutritious - and less expensive - options
besides cutting back on baked goods.
" It's been a blessing and a curse, " she said. " The blessing is there are so many products that are gluten-free, so
Baked goods offer the selection is amazing, but it comes at a cost. "
not only gluten-free
options but also tasty Sharing a medical history
alternatives for those Gluten-free is part of the decades-long, low-carb menpeople who suffer tality that has surged and declined as fad diets have come
from other allergies.
and gone. Several diets have one thing in common: They
Julia's Table

28 Baking & Snack December 2020 / www.bakingbusiness.com

of consumers
who are 18
and older would like more
information on nutrition.

51%

Mintel - Consumer Approach to Nutrition, January 2020

started as a way to treat and alleviate the symptoms of
a condition or disease; then the diets morphed into the
mainstream as a so-called health-and-wellness initiative.
Ms. Cureton noted that the ketogenic diet was originally formulated after studies showed that eating highfat, high-protein, no-carb foods could provide help for
epileptics who suffered from seizures. Likewise, the
FODMAP movement was initially developed for people
with irritable-bowel syndrome.
Tom Vierhile, vice president of strategic insights,
North America, Innova Market Insights, pointed out
that gluten-free has matured with growth in new product launches moderating across packaged food and beverage products.
Specifically, Innova's database shows that national
launches of gluten-free products grew at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5% from 2016 to 2019.
The top category, snacks, saw introduction growth at an
8.0% CAGR during that period, while new baked goods
increased at a healthy 5.7% CAGR.
Bakery is also the top category for keto within the
gluten-free spectrum, followed by the cereals and sports
nutrition categories. Overall, gluten-free contains no
wheat, barley or other grains that contain gliadin and
glutenin while keto greatly restricts carbs. Some formulations may contain higher carbs than might be expected, which are then balanced by high fiber
Mr. Vierhile reported that the number of " keto " or
" ketogenic " gluten-free bakery and cereal products have
been growing rapidly, though from a relatively modest base. According to Innova's database, new " keto " or
" ketogenic " labeled gluten-free products have risen at
a 94.7% and 164.0% CAGR for the 2016 to 2019 period respectively.
But look out for another new movement that could disrupt the gluten-free trend: products claiming to be grainfree. According to the Innova database, new food and
beverage products with a grain-free claim - measured
by using terms like " no grain, " " without grain " or " free
from grain " - grew at a 14.1% CAGR from 2016 to 2019.
Mr. Vierhile said grain-free is only about 10% as large as
gluten-free from a new product launch perspective, but it
remains an area to keep an eye on for the future.
Formulating these products has never been easy.

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Baking & Snack - December 2020

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