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The gluten-free market is getting competitive.
A growing number of businesses are selling products aimed at celiacs — people who have difficulty digesting gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.
In March, Italy-based Dr. Schar Srl, Europe’s largest gluten-free food maker, opened its U.S. headquarters in Lyndhurst, N.J. And in May the company began putting gluten-free pasta, cookies and snacks in supermarkets across the United States.

The company’s arrival follows a steady stream of bakeries, health food stores and restaurants offering gluten-free items. Miller’s Gluten Free Baking Co., a bakery in Rochelle Park, N.J., opened two months ago, selling gluten-free bread and rolls and ready-to-bake pizza and cookie dough.

“Business is growing,” said Rose Bertani, who started Gluten Free Market in Fair Lawn, N.J., two years ago. “There are more and more companies popping up.”
Authorities estimate that about 1 in 133 people suffer from celiac disease, which can cause diarrhea, constipation and gas, and can damage the intestines if untreated. The main treatment is to avoid gluten.

But the ailment has for years been overlooked by doctors, say groups that advocate for sufferers.

Now, the medical profession is waking up to the problem, and businesses are too, said Susan Goodstadt-Levin, co-leader of the Northern New Jersey Celiac Support Group.

One reason for the growing awareness, she and other advocates said, is that the U.S. has seen an influx of doctors from Europe, where the ailment is more widely recognized free credit score.

“People are finally becoming aware of the need for gluten-free food,” she said. “The response is more health food stores are carrying gluten-free product. More and more companies are springing up that are making it. And better and better products.”

Anheuser-Busch, for instance, began selling gluten-free beer made of sorghum 18 months ago, Goodstadt-Levin noted. In April, General Mills launched a gluten-free version of its Rice Chex cereal, replacing the barley malt syrup in the product with molasses.

New York-based MarketResearch.com says the gluten-free food and beverage market is growing annually by 25 percent, and predicts the market will be at $1.7 billion in 2010.

Donna George, vice-president of Schar USA, said the company has some 18 products for sale in the U.S., and expects to grow the list to 35 by the end of 2009.
The company’s 30-year-old parent previously serviced the U.S. market through Canadian distributors, and was encouraged by the response, she said.
“They had done very well with the European products and decided to come out with a U.S. line,” George said.

Schar still makes its products in Europe. But the company is working with Rutgers Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton, N.J., to develop products that will likely be made in the U.S., she said.

“As the diagnosis grows,” said George, “the demand for our products is growing.”

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