Rising Gluten-Free Food Prices Could Force Manufacturers to Change Recipe | Food industry

The premium paid by shoppers for gluten-free versions of staple foods could increase over the next few months as soaring costs for ingredients such as rice flour cast a shadow over the “free” aisle in supermarkets. .

These specialty foods already cost significantly more than traditional products, making any price increases a cause for concern, especially for people on a gluten-free diet out of medical necessity. The scale of the problem means that some companies might choose to rewrite recipes with cheaper ingredients.

Jason Bull, of West Yorkshire-based ingredients company Eurostar Commodities, said the wholesale price of rice flour, which is used to make gluten-free baked goods such as bread and cakes as well as baby food and desserts, increased by 26%. Another factor was a 10% increase in freight costs.

“Rice flour is a key ingredient, so this poses a problem for manufacturers,” he said. “Can they afford to absorb such large increases without raising the retail price or will it trickle down to the consumer?” As a result, product recipes have to change if they cannot be absorbed, potentially affecting taste and quality. “

The rise in the price of rice flour is due to problems in major rice-producing countries, including Myanmar, where there was a military coup, and India. Rice flour is generally made from broken grains which are a by-product of milling. However, the compression means that some suppliers have to grind long grain rice to produce it.

The cost of raw materials is only part of the overall price paid for products in supermarkets, so high selling price increases would not be of a similar magnitude. There is also a time lag during which current supply contracts expire. After that, retailers can choose to pass on a price increase while requiring manufacturers to absorb some of the higher costs themselves.

The pressure comes at a time when the demand for gluten-free foods is high. They are traditionally eaten by people with celiac disease, a condition in which the immune system responds to gluten, a protein found in grains like wheat and barley. However, the dairy-free customer base, which includes the dairy-free category, is much larger as food intolerances are better understood.

The market for gluten-free and dairy-free products was worth £ 1.1 billion in 2020, according to Mintel market research, with the former accounting for 40% of sales. Pricing gluten-free products was a long-standing challenge, said Kiti Soininen, category manager, UK Food and Drink Research.

“Prices are generally significantly higher than for standard products,” she said, with the higher price tags reflecting the need for dedicated production lines and specialized ingredients. This meant that some consumers were already overpriced in the market, with just 15% of people in households earning less than £ 25,000 buying gluten-free products, compared to 23% in households with an annual income of £ 50,000 or more. more.

Two in five people who eat and buy free products said they cut back “when money is tight,” Soininen said, with any price increase potentially putting the products out of reach for many.

The pressure on prices comes at a time when there is more general concern about rising purchasing bills. The Food and Drink Federation said food prices could rise 5% by fall, as labor shortages push up wages and other costs.