Gluten-Free Packaged Foods in the United States Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Around 3 million Americans have celiac disease and a further estimated 40 million have gluten-intolerance or sensitivity. There are also millions of other Americans who may be undiagnosed for either of these conditions. The core market for gluten-free food is comprised of both diagnosed and undiagnosed individuals. Other consumers of gluten-free products purchase them due to perceived health or beauty beliefs.

The number of new introductions of gluten-free packaged food and beverage products in the United States has grown by 80% from 2005 to 2010. The growth in retail volume and value sales of gluten-free packaged foods is expected to continue to increase from 2011 to 2014.

Traditional gluten-free categories such as bread, cookies, crackers, cakes, baking mixes, cereals and pasta are growing markets and have seen many product introductions in the past few years. However, non-traditional categories such as snack foods, dairy, sauces and seasonings, desserts, and confectionery have also seen many new product introductions. This is because some of these products may actually contain "hidden" gluten that was removed for individuals with celiac or gluten-intolerance. Alternatively, they may have been naturally gluten-free, but are now labelled as gluten-free by this producer to capture the popular health trend.

According to Euromonitor, only seven companies control 30% of the gluten-free packaged foods market (not including bakery mixes and products that are naturally gluten-free). The rest of the market is scattered between companies with less than 0.1% market share each.

There is a growing number of individuals with celiac disease or gluten-intolerance who want more choices of better tasting gluten-free foods in supermarkets and restaurants. These consumers are willing to pay a price premium for many indulgence products such as bakery foods and snacks.