Gluten-Free Canadian

Eating gluten-free foods is not a fad diet. It’s a diet for life. What does this mean? It means those affected are also a market for life. In Quebec, PatsyPie manufactures gluten-free baked goods, such as cookies and biscotti. In Ontario, Canbrands Specialty Foods manufactures rice bread, baking mixes, and other gluten-free products. Together they are able to compete in the national market, even though they are two small companies with only 15 employees between them. Since the products are not made in the multi-million dollar facilities of Dempster’s, small companies have a better chance of succeeding in the Canadian market because of the higher costs associated with producing a specialized food product, which include raw materials and cross-contamination.

The Canadian Celiac Association (CCA) defines celiac disease as, “A medical condition in which the absorptive surface of the small intestine is damaged by a substance called gluten [the storage protein found in wheat and certain other grains]. This results in an inability of the body to absorb nutrients-protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for good health.” The CCA estimates that 1 in 133 Canadians are affected. Additionally, people with the following conditions are recommended to have a gluten-free diet: irritable bowel syndrome, autism, ADHD, dermatitis herpetiformis (another form of celiac disease-a chronic skin condition characterized by intense burning and an itching rash), and many other autoimmune disorders. This increases the ratio of Canadians affected by gluten to around 1 in 30. With a population around 30 million, this is a potential market of 1 million people.

As a side note, being intolerant to gluten isn’t only seen as an untapped market where a business can make a profit, it is a very serious matter and many people depend on the products to enjoy their daily lives.

There are many symptoms associated with celiac disease. Since these symptoms are not exclusive for celiacs, it decreases the chance for an earlier diagnosis. Only with an increasing awareness of this disease, will there be a better chance to catch it earlier in life. Most affect adults and children, but there are additional symptoms solely for children. Shelley Case, a registered dietician and author of Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, reports that that these symptoms may vary from one person to another. She also notes, “Celiac disease is considered to be the most underdiagnosed common disease today…New research shows that Celiac disease is twice as common as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and cystic fibrosis combined.”

Symptoms Found in Adults and Children

Symptoms Found Exclusively in Children

Abdominal pain was normal for Pat Libling. She would try to explain her symptoms to her doctors, but she was easily dismissed. Her pleas were ignored by those who were meant to help. “It’s all in your head, Pat.”

Pat Libling, or PatsyPie as she is fondly known, was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1987 at a time when she thought she was the only one in the world who suffered the way she did. Like so many newly diagnosed celiacs, she became frustrated with the limited availability, quality, and the taste of most of the gluten-free products on store shelves. Soon after being diagnosed, Pat began making her cookies at home for herself and her daughters, who are also celiac. Realizing that her cookies were better than anything on the market, she decided to sell to groceries, bakeries, specialty shops, and health food stores in the Montreal area. In 2001, PatsyPie opened for business. For the first year, she simply baked in her house. It may have made a messy kitchen, but her husband Michael never complained about the baked cookie aroma once. As sales increased, she had to seek extra help and began to out-source her baking. Once they began to soar, the next step was securing a bakery of her own. Her company has been in a gluten-free facility for four years and has always been producing her great tasting cookies, biscotti, and brownies.

PatsyPie’s sales have doubled in the past year. Pat Libling says, “I believe that it [gluten-free] is one of the fastest growing markets out there. So many people, even besides celiacs, are eating non-gluten products.” She also noticed that every other person she meets are either finding out he or she is celiac or knows someone who is.

For two years, Chuck Cundari has been PatsyPie’s broker, selling her products to various stores and distributors. His company, Canbrands Specialty Foods, has been manufacturing gluten-free products since January 2006. Chuck has thirty years of experience in the food industry in various jobs. As a distributor, he carried the Kingsmill Foods product line. Chuck recognized an opportunity when Kingsmill decided to sell its health food line, which included their rice bread and their baking mixes. In fact, Kingsmill rice bread was one of the first gluten-free products available for consumers and Pat Libling has been purchasing it for years. Canbrands Specialty Foods has three employees, yet has products across Canada, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Alongside PatsyPie cookies, a consumer can find Kingsmill products in the aisles of Sobeys, Loblaws, and Dominion. Kim Gardiner, the head baker at Canbrands Bakery, has thirty years experience of gluten-free baking. With his experience as a baker and Chuck’s experience in the industry, they have progressed from half a million dollars to over a million dollars in revenue within a year. These small businesses have fewer employees and they out-source the packing of their products, which requires large mechanical equipment. For most small businesses, this low overhead increases the worth of every dollar compared to larger companies with hundreds of employees, big warehouses, and expensive machinery.

When comparing PatsyPie and Canbrands Specialty Foods to Dempster’s, there are two important costs associated with manufacturing specialty foods: raw materials and cross-contamination. Purchasing raw materials is the most expensive portion of any manufacturing company. Although, Dempster’s may have expensive preservatives, specialty foods will contain various types of emulsifiers, binding agents, and modified starches. These are not genetically modified starches, but starches that have been modified to increase their stability against excessive heat, cold, and affect gelatinization time. It would be very expensive to produce gluten-free bread at the quantity of Dempster’s white bread since wheat flour is a better grain to bake with, eliminating the need for specialty raw materials. Shelley Case explains this, “Gluten is what forms the structure of dough, holding products together and leavening.”

There is also the problem of cross-contamination. This is when either the product or the raw material has been in contact with a gluten containing grain. The CCA notes that gluten is found in wheat, rye, triticale, and barley. In recent studies, pure uncontaminated oats may be used in a gluten-free diet. However, oats is sometimes grown in the same field as a gluten containing grain and should be used with care if brought into a celiac’s diet. To be recognized as a gluten-free facility, those four grains and their by-products cannot enter or be near the processing of raw materials or the manufacturing of the products. This is not a problem for companies like PatsyPie or Canbrands Specialty Foods because they focus on one type of product. It is a problem for Dempster’s because they already have a multi-million dollar facility to manufacture their wheat products. Either Dempster’s would have to start producing specialty foods at a small quantity, like PatsyPie or Canbrands Specialty Foods, or they would have to build a big warehouse, purchase expensive machinery, and hire hundreds of employees.

These two reasons help the small business owner alleviate some stress, knowing that they do not have to compete with the larger companies anytime soon. If they do compete, it will be at an equal quantity and at the same price point. The small business will not be pushed out of the market.

However, it is not to say that large companies are not becoming aware of the burgeoning purchasing power of those on a specialty food diet. For example, Pizza Pizza has just launched gluten-free pizza in over 300 locations across Ontario and Quebec. Imagine how Pat Libling would have felt in 1987 if she could have gone out with her friends for a pizza, without worrying about the eventual pain in her stomach. Many celiacs just want to lead a normal life and companies like PatsyPie and Canbrands Specialty Foods are easing the process.