Discover essential tips for success in the gluten-free market, tailored for consumer packaged goods. Unlock new opportunities today!
Strategies for Navigating Consumer Preferences and Building Brand Loyalty
Carolyn Haeler, CEO of Mightylicious Inc., shares her insights on launching a gluten-free consumer packaged goods (CPG) product, specifically her line of gluten-free cookies. Entering the market with a gluten-free product poses unique challenges that are not universally applicable, indicating that each company must navigate its own path. Haeler’s experience highlights the importance of understanding the specific hurdles gluten-free brands face, from sourcing ingredients to ensuring compliance with dietary regulations.
The gluten-free market is growing, and aspiring entrepreneurs must be equipped with knowledge and strategies to overcome barriers to entry. Haeler emphasizes that while there may be no one-size-fits-all solution, learning from others’ experiences can provide valuable guidance. This approach is essential for anyone looking to break into this competitive sector of the food industry.
Navigating the Gluten-Free Frontier: Strategies to Thrive in a Flourishing Niche
Welcome to a new episode of fi Spotlight I’m your host Britney borer this week we’re going to be diving into the glutenfree food market the global market for gluten-free foods is currently worth $6.7 billion dollar globally and is expected to grow to 14 billion by 2032 but what is the current state of the gluten-free market and how far exactly.
Have we come in regard to taste and texture with these foods to answer these questions and more and expl explore this topic a little bit further I’d like to introduce my guest today Carolyn haer she is the CEO of Mighty Licious Inc hi I’m so excited to be here thanks so much thanks for being here Carolyn it’s so nice to see you so could you.
Tell us about Mighty Lous and the backstory behind it sure I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2012 and up until that point I had live sort of a very gluten full life and um I had to quickly and sort of on my own figure out how to heal my body through food and also sort of adapt to a new lifestyle because not being able to eat gluten is a very.
Significant um change in your lifestyle a lot of people don’t know this but in addition to the things that you think are have gluten in them like cake and pasta and bread and baked goods um gluten is used as not only um it’s not only in wheat products but it’s used as a filler it’s used as a color and it’s used as a preservative so things like.
Coca-Cola Pepsi colola and even Ginger o have gluten in them so it is a really dramatic lifestyle change and I sort of was living with that for five years and The Story Goes that it was 2017 I was working in finance I was working at a hedge fund I was really unhappy I was really overworked and exhausted and I was Christmas shopping and I’ve been.
Shopping all day I was tired I was standing in line there was like 40 people in front of me um and there was I looked down at um the Shelf in front of me and there were these gluten-free cookies that were beautifully packaged and they said artisanal and handcrafted by this executive chef and Baker and I was like oh thank God and I grabbed them.
And I took a bite and it was just not a positive experience the cookie crumbled in my mouth it tasted stale it tasted like ammonia um I literally took the cookie out of my mouth put it back in the box and I was like oh my gosh now I have to buy these and I ended up throwing them out before I even left the store like bought them tossed them in.
The trash can went on my way and in that moment I was like there just has to be something better like someone has to do something to improve the quality of the products on the market so that they’re actually edible but not only edible enjoyable um and so it was that moment I was just sort of at a low point in my in my life I was unhappy and I wanted a.
Cookie because cookies should make you happy it’s like you know it’s a comfort food it’s what you reach for when you sort of need a metaphoric hug and sort of that had been taken away from me I really hadn’t found up until that point a product that I thought was not only edible but enjoyable and so I was like you know what I love to bake I’m going.
To start a cookie company and so I did now is your product targeting gluten intolerant consumers or is this something that everyone can enjoy that’s a really good question and it was something that I actually was really really passionate about the majority of products on the market actually own Target sort of the gluten-free um Market.
Or segment of the market which is kind of a captive audience when you think about it we don’t really like if you’re someone like me if you have celiac disease or gluten allergy or any other kind of health or Wellness issue that you might require a gluten-free diet you are captive you don’t have any other options and that means that companies.
Can really get away with cutting Corners um and creating a product that might not be as um appetizing as other products on the market where consumers have a lot more choice and a lot more um consumer power and so I really wanted to create a product that Not only was enjoyable for people who have celiac disease but Bas so that anyone could enjoy it doesn’t.
Matter whether you have ciac disease or not or any type of health issue maybe you just want to be healthier and live a healthier lifestyle or you want to give your kids a better for you product that doesn’t have any chemicals or process ingredients then this is a product for you because you can both you can have that and you can have your cookie too.
You can have the better for your product you can also have an enjoyable treat from a manufacturing and logistical standpoint what has it been like for you to start this business of a gluten-free product in such a gluten filled industry hard it is very very hard and the reason it’s hard is that um there’s a lot of manufacturing facilities in the.
United States in fact if you go and talk to a Consulting agency who wants to help you sort of find these manufacturing um companies and plants they’ll tell you oh we have 18,000 20,000 30,000 contacts but the truth of the matter is that the number of glutenfree facilities and you um are like a dozen maybe two dozen and what makes that even more challenging.
Especially for someone like me is that the majority of those manufactur facilities are free from everything they’re free from tree nuts they’re free from coconut they’re free from eggs they’re free from butter they’re free from I’m sorry Dairy they’re free from everything but that means that I can’t manufacture at a traditional.
Manufacturing facility because they manufacture gluten in there cross contamination and I also can’t manufacture out a gluten-free facility of which there are only a handful um because my products have um other allergens in them and that was tremendously challenging um so I um I actually had to spend a lot of time in.
The very beginning sort of figuring out how to fit my product into the current manufacturing landscape and find someone who would actually take me on as a client that is one of the largest challenges you’re going to have in the food space is once you sort of have enough growth and have that first big order um finding that manufacturing.
Partner who is able to manufacture to the Quality that you want and have design but also um it’s going to take a risk on you and take you on because you’re a smaller client in the beginning which is just natural um so that is challenging what the way I’ve gotten around it and I think it’s one of my competitive advantages now is I actually.
Don’t work with any of the established gluten-free manufacturing facilities I found a specialty cookie manufacturer who has become gluten-free certified for me and for my products so that we were able to build out the methodology together um to create an excellent product that’s also safe to be consumed by the.
Gluten-free intolerant um population gluten intolerance are a lot more widely known now than they were previously and North America happens to have the largest market share of these products at 39% so from where you stand do you think the life has gotten easier for that glutenfree customer um why or why.
Not I would say the answer to that is actually yes and no I think that certainly compared to my life in 2012 and even 2017 there’s been a sort of broader Awakening of the consumer for a better for you product and gluten-free is part of that segment while there is a lot more um options and VAR out there the.
Quality is still not where it should be and you know I don’t walk into a grocery store and think to myself look at all of these options I have I usually instill just grabbing a few brands that I know have good quality and that I know are acceptable and then taking them home there are more of those Brands now but it’s not certainly not um the way I used.
To eat prior to my diagnosis or prior to having celiac disease um so there’s still a lot of room for Improvement in the space for better quality products um products that are more typical to what you’re used to um as a gluten eater um then like so it’s better but it’s not it’s not great is my answer Carolyn haer CEO of my delicious Inc thank you so.
Much for your insights today oh it was my pleasure I really appreciate the time and the opportunity and um happy snacking everyone and as always for more of our great content you can click on this playlist until next time I’m Britney Bor with the food Institute
