Whats the missing ingredient in the ‘free-from’ aisle?
Is it only those with specific dietary requirements that are avoiding allergens?
Although 20–30% of Brits think they have a food allergy or intolerance, it’s far less common than you might think. In fact, the number of people living with a diagnosed food allergy is closer to 2%.
Regardless of the exact number, the increased interest in free-from options when shopping has had a huge impact on the food and beverage industry over the past few decades. The pressure for brands to cater for varying dietary requirements — while maintaining taste, quality and price — is forcing the industry to experiment with new ranges and recipes to keep consumers from venturing elsewhere.
We approached our UK bees — or users — to find out what the biggest driving factor is to buy these free-from products, and what improvements they would like to see — here’s what nearly 800 of them told us.
Allergen avoidance or neurotic nutrition?
Almost 3 in 5 of our bees are actively trying to avoid perceived allergens — the most common being dairy, gluten and lactose. But, what’s surprising is why they’re doing so.
The majority of people are doing so as a lifestyle choice or for general health reasons — less than 1 in 10 actually have a diagnosed allergy. Free-from food and drinks originated to provide alternatives to those who risk serious medical repercussions if they ingest certain ingredients, but as consumer attitudes towards health have evolved, free-from products have evolved into a wellness product as well.
Not all ingredients are being avoided primarily driven by general lifestyle choices — for instance, our bees steering clear of lactose are influenced more by a suspected intolerance (58%).
However, ‘suspected’ is not the same as ‘diagnosed’ — it’s still a choice being made rather than a requirement. What does this mean for brands?
Free-from products aren’t just competing with each other — they’re actually vying for the same customers as the standard products. This puts free-from at a possible disadvantage — their prices are generally higher and they’re usually positioned within their own section of a store, rather than integrated into the main shelves.
Who’s got it in the bag?
So how are supermarkets responding to this increased appetite towards free-from products?
Well, over a third of our bees think that their local supermarket make a lot of effort to cater for people of different dietary needs — with only a tiny 2% thinking they make none whatsoever.
This is great news for brands like Tesco and Sainsbury’s — what may have once required going to a specialist store or ordering online, access a loaf of gluten-free bread can now be achieved within the weekly food shop.
This is in part what’s normalising these kinds of products — by being more widely available, people are becoming more aware of the ingredients in their everyday basket items, making them more likely to experiment to find what works best for them.
Transparency over taste?
However, there remains a persistent barrier.
The problem with altering the recipe to accommodate the removal of the offending ingredients from food products results in an end product that tastes — and looks — different to the products we’re used to — and they’re automatically compared.
People want like-for-like — anything else is perceived as inferior… here’s the proof: over a third (34%) of our bees think that free-from products don’t taste as good as their standard food and drink equivalents.
But the missing ingredient impacts this heavily.
Half of people avoiding wheat think free-from products aren’t as good as the regular products, compared to only 22% of those avoiding lactose. The reason? There is such a huge variety of lactose-free milk on offer — oat, nut, coconut — that it’s become normalised among consumers. It has transformed into a new product category, rather than the replacement of an existing favourite.
There are far fewer options for wheat-free products — therefore it’s harder to experiment with recipes and brands to find the best choice.
Check out time
So if people don’t actually need these products, and they tend not to like them that much, why are they buying them?
Is it the transparency in the ingredients that attracts consumers to them? The creation of these products was primarily driven by allergies and intolerances (whether that’s actually why people buy them or not) and by their very nature they have a focus on health.
But as the industry grows, the lines between product categories blur.
Most supermarkets have dedicated ‘free-from’ sections — but, should they? These products shouldn’t just be targeted at those with dietary requirements — because the majority of the people buying them are doing so by choice, not necessity.
The positioning as an alternative that’s ‘missing’ something is out of date, In the future we should see free-from products marketed as a new product in it’s own right — with an exciting and transparent new recipe combination!
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A quick word on our methodology: The figures in the article are taken from Streetbees community members in the UK, carried out in June 2019. All of the data was collected by mobile and web surveys, and is accurate to within 3 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
