[ 262 Pages Report] The global gluten-free products market size is estimated to account for USD 5.6 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 8.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 8.1%. The market is driven by the rising prevalence of celiac disease and also growing population shifting towards healthier diets. Gluten is a protein that is primarily found in four grains, namely, wheat, barley, rye, and triticale (crossbreed). Its main purpose is to give the dough its elasticity, which is further used to produce a line of products by imparting a chewy texture and retaining the product�s shape. However, this protein is not suitable for every consumer, as it may result in various health-related issues. Hence, companies are manufacturing a line of gluten-free products and marketing it globally as they experience a positive demand from consumers facing gluten-intolerance issues and other health-related problems caused due to gluten.

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�Impact of COVID-19 on the current market size and forecast.�

The COVID-19 pandemic is projected to have a moderate and unfavorable impact on the global market. Due to the restricted supply chain activities, manufacturers are not able to procure the raw material and manufacture goods to cater to the demand. Additionally, due to government initiatives such as lockdowns, manufacturing plants were also at a standstill due to the limited workforce available. Global companies are facing challenges in importing and exporting the end products, owing to the limited international trading activities. All these factors cumulatively have impacted the entire supply chain, thereby impacting the market adversely. However, post-pandemic, the market for gluten-free products is projected to witness an optimistic growth trend, owing to the rise in consumers preferring gluten-free and other free-from foods, as a result of a shift in the consumption lifestyles towards healthier eating. Thus, the market is expected to be at a standstill until the fourth quarter of 2020.

�Market dynamics � Drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges�

Driver: Increased diagnosis of celiac disease and other food allergies

Gluten intolerance or celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder, which damages the small intestine lining and prevents the absorption of nutrients from consumed food items. If this is left untreated, it can lead to developing other immunity disorders, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer. According to a study called �Global Prevalence of Celiac Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,� published in 2017, the global prevalence of celiac disease was found to be 1.4% of the global population. The effect of celiac disease is more in developing countries than in the western world. The myth that celiac disease primarily affects Europeans and Americans has been eliminated since, according to the same study mentioned above, the prevalence of celiac disease was observed to be the highest in Asia (1.8%) and lowest in Africa (1.1%). In the earlier decades, before the 2000s, the prevalence of these celiac diseases was unknown to the majority of the population as it could have been easily misdiagnosed for some other digestion-related problem.

However, with the development of simple but reliable diagnostic methods, the situation has changed. This has made it possible to analyze the frequency of celiac disease in different cultures and regions, thereby giving a major boost to epidemiological research in this field. The consumption of gluten-free products and avoidance of gluten-containing products are currently the only way to treat celiac disease, thereby driving the demand for gluten-free products. Apart from the increase in the diagnosis of celiac disease, gluten-free products are also gaining growth due to individuals suffering from other diseases such as non-celiac gluten sensitivity, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmune disorders. Further, through government awareness campaigns and initiatives about celiac diseases and the establishment of labels for gluten-free products, the need for gluten-free foods has been promoted among the public in almost all regions, including developing countries. These promotions have increased the need for the diagnosis of celiac disease among consumers and increased the demand for gluten-free products.

Restraint: Gluten-free products lacks an adequate amount of dietary fibers, resulting in constipation and other ailments of digestive system

A gluten-free diet isn�t necessarily a healthier diet as perceived by the population shifting toward gluten-free dietary lifestyles due to an array of health benefits offered. Gluten-free flours that are further used to make gluten-free products such as breads, pasta, pizza, and other bakery goods can be highly refined and are low in fiber with a high glycemic index (GI). Sometimes, to match the taste, texture, and feel of these gluten-free ingredients or flours to conventional gluten-containing ingredients, fats and sugar are additionally added, which can lead to human health issues. Several people consuming a gluten-free dietary lifestyle are adopting low-fiber diets, as gluten-free foods are often made with low-fiber refined flours and starches, such as white rice flour, tapioca starch, corn starch, and potato starch.

Fiber plays an important role in the human body in keeping the digestive system healthy. People suffering from digestion problems, leading to diarrhea and constipation, have a high intake of fibers in their daily diets. Thus, majority of the key players in the global gluten-free products market are developing and formulating ingredients that are rich sources of dietary fibers, so that the end consumers do not experience any lack in dietary fibers in their daily diets, which will further lead to constipation or any other ailments of the digestive system, such as irregular bowel movements, loose stools, and stomach aches. However, there will still be a gap in the intake amount of dietary fibers consumed through conventional fiber-rich gluten-containing foods and food products as compared to gluten-free products, which will result in restricting the growth of the global market.

Opportunity: Adoption of micro-encapsulation technology to improve the shelf-life of gluten-free products

In conventional gluten-containing foods and food products, gluten proteins are responsible for the management and retention of moisture, which in turn, impart the products with a relatively long shelf-life. However, when the products are manufactured gluten-free, to cater to the increasing demand of the global end consumers, it tends to have a shorter shelf-life and, in most cases, lacks its texture aesthetics. Furthermore, it is tough for the key players to manufacture a line of gluten-free products to increase moisture retention and shelf-life. Thus, they require continuous R&D and incorporation of newer technologies to attain the desired shelf-life.

Microencapsulation is one such recent technology that can aid manufacturers to achieve this goal of increasing the shelf-life and texture of their range of gluten-free products. The same technology has been used to overcome the cardboard consistency of refrigerated pizza, rising crust pizza, and also for the shelf-life extension of frozen and refrigerated dough, frozen biscuit dough, scoop and bake frozen muffins, and biscuits.

The coatings used in the application of this technology are gluten-free. Further, there is a wide range of gluten-free fruit acids and lactic acid shelf-life extenders, which, when coated on the product, can help deliver optimum & consistent leavening, thereby overcoming pre-reactions. This can help in extending the shelf-life and deliver an all-natural taste and texture with good consumer appeal. Therefore, such newer technological innovations and formulations aid manufacturers of gluten-free foods and food products in producing long shelf-life products that can cater to the global demand, by transporting it across regions and which can be consumed over a longer period. For instance, companies such as Legacy Farms offer long shelf-life products, such as gluten-free cheese and broccoli bake, soup mixes, and pinto bean stews.

Challenge: Formulation challenges faced by manufacturers

Changing a consumer�s dietary lifestyle to gluten-free lifestyles is extremely difficult. A majority of people are not able to adapt to it because of the difference in its texture, flavor, taste, and many other reasons. This creates a major challenge for several key players in the global market. The key players in the market face this challenge as to how to formulate a product with similar palatable texture, flavor, consistency, and taste in comparison to conventional gluten-containing products. This is a cause of several factors that include difficulty in using replacement ingredients and getting them to interact in the same way as they would in the original product.

In gluten-free manufacturing, the manufacturer not only needs to find and source alternative compounds to bind the ingredients together but also needs to ensure that the taste, texture, appearance, cost, shelf-life, and nutritional content are all maintained according to the standards expected by consumers. As end consumers are hesitant to change their dietary lifestyles to gluten-free products, owing to differences in the original and these products, manufacturers have to make sure that there is maximum similarity in the products resulting in reducing the resistance by end consumers. Also, they need to ensure minimal differences in terms of appearance from conventional products, as any such change may result in the new product failing to satisfy consumers. This can involve significant amounts of experimentation, efforts, and cost to the company before a suitable product is ready for the market. Further, manufacturers need to ensure that they avoid any cross-contamination of the product during raw material sourcing, manufacturing, packaging, and storage. Thus, all these factors pose a huge challenge for manufacturers to sustain in the global market, as it becomes troublesome for them to offer gluten-free products with similarities, while ensuring affordability.

By type, the bakery products segment is estimated to account for the largest share in the market in 2020.

Globally, the demand for gluten-free bakery products is witnessing increased demand, particularly in the developed regions. Owing to this, the bakery products segment is estimated to dominate the global market, by type, in 2020, in terms of value and volume. The bakery products segment includes bread, rolls, buns, cakes, cookies, crackers, wafers, biscuits, and baking mixes & flours. These products are staple foods of the population in North America and Europe; countries in these regions are also known to have the highest number of gluten-intolerant population in the world. Awareness among the population for these products is leading in these regions and also shows a rising awareness among the population for celiac and other digestive health issues. Thus, the population is shifting and adopting gluten-free dietary lifestyles on a large scale, owing to their other health benefits other than the prevention and treatment of celiac disease. Bakery is one of the segments of food products where wheat flour, as a raw material ingredient for binding or production of an array of products, is consumed on a large scale. Thus, providing an array of gluten-free bakery products is becoming of utmost importance.

The solid form segment is estimated to account for the largest share in the gluten-free products market in 2020, by form.

The global market is majorly dominated by the solid form, across regions and countries. This is attributed to the fact that manufacturers of these products are into large-scale production of this form of gluten-free products, catering to the global end-consumer demand. Products such as bread, rolls, buns, cakes, cookies, crackers, wafers, biscuits, baking mixes & flours, breakfast cereals, snack bars, confectionery products, noodles, and RTE products fall under the solid form of the gluten-free product segment. Manufacturers operating in the gluten-free market are largely into the production of the solid form of gluten-free products owing to the higher sales of these products, longer shelf-life, easier logistics required, convenience in manufacturing and formulating, and lower costs of production.

The segment estimated to account for the largest share in the market in 2020, by distribution channel, is the conventional stores segment.

Conventional stores were largely preferred by an array of consumers for purchasing gluten-free products. This is attributed to the factors such as the ease in accessing stores, availability of various product categories, and frequent purchasing destinations. Owing to this, the segment has accounted for the majority share in the global market, by distribution channel and also, is projected to grow at the highest rate in the coming years.

North America dominated the global gluten-free products market in 2019; however, European market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The North American market is currently dominating the global gluten-free products market. Factors leading to the dominance of this region in the global market include the relatively high awareness of gluten-free products, diagnosed celiac patients, key players existing in the market, and higher purchasing power of the populace. According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, the incidence rate of celiac disease amongst Americans stood at 0.5% in 2018. About three million Americans have celiac disease, and a further estimated 40 million suffer from gluten-intolerance or sensitivity. According to the same data, experts have anticipated that the number of celiac patients in the region is expected to double every 15 years. This is attributed to the heavy consumption of bread and other gluten-containing foods and food products as a majority part of the meal as compared to the consumption among the populace in other regions. As consumers are becoming aware of the diseases caused by heavy consumption of gluten, most are now moving toward a gluten-free diet, further enabling product manufacturers to develop a strong gluten-free product portfolio. Additionally, various prominent companies are now coming up with different variants of gluten-free products to tap into this dynamic food product category. General Mills, The Kraft Heinz Company, and Kellogg�s Company are a few major players in the gluten-free products category in the region that drive growth by offering a broad range of gluten-free products and introducing newer product innovations catering to dynamic consumer demands in the market.

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Key Market Players

This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios of the leading companies in the gluten-free products market. The key players in this market include, The Kraft Heinz Company (US), The Hain Celestial Group Inc (US), General Mills (US), Kellogg�s Company (US), ConAgra Brands Inc (US), Hero AG (Switzerland), Barilla G.E.R Fratelli S.P.A (Italy), Quinoa Corporation (US), Freedom Foods Group Limited (Australia), Koninklijke Wessanen N.V (Netherlands), Raisio PLC (Finland), Dr Sch�r AG/SPA (Italy), Enjoy Life Foods (US), Farmo S.P.A. (Italy), Big OZ (UK), Alara Wholefoods Ltd (UK), Norside Foods Ltd (UK), Warburtons (UK), Silly Yaks (Australia), Seitz Glutenfrei GMBH (Germany), Bob�s Red Mill (US), Kelkin Ltd (Ireland), Amy�s Foods (US), Golden West Specialty Foods (US), and Prima Foods (UK).

The market also consists of key start-ups that include Katz Gluten Free (US), Genius Foods (UK), Chosen Foods LLC (US), BFree (Ireland), Mickey�s LLC (US), Rachel Pauls Food (US), Gee Free LLC (US), Fody Foods (Canada), Gluten-free Prairie (US), Gluten Free Cornwall (UK), Feel Good Foods (US), Canyon Bakehouse LLC (US), Barr Necessities (US), Avena Foods Limited (Canada), and Complete Start (US).

Scope of the Report:

Report Metric Details Market size estimation 2018-2025 Base year considered 2019 Forecast period considered 2020�2025 Units considered Value (USD) and Volume (KT) Segments covered Type

Distribution channel

Form

Source

Region Regions covered North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

South America

Middle East and Africa Companies studied The Kraft Heinz Company (US),

The Hain Celestial Group Inc (US),

General Mills (US),

Kellogg�s Company (US),

ConAgra Brands Inc (US),

Hero AG (Switzerland),

Barilla G.E.R Fratelli S.P.A (Italy),

Quinoa Corporation (US),

Freedom Foods Group Limited (Australia),

Koninklijke Wessanen N.V (Netherlands),

Raisio PLC (Finland),

Dr Sch�r AG/SPA (Italy),

Enjoy Life Foods (US),

Farmo S.P.A. (Italy),

Big OZ (UK),

Alara Wholefoods Ltd (UK),

Norside Foods Ltd (UK),

Warburtons (UK),

Silly Yaks (Australia),

Seitz Glutenfrei GMBH (Germany),

Bob's Red Mill (US),

Kelkin Ltd (Ireland),

Amy's Foods (US),

Golden West Specialty Foods (US),

Prima Foods (UK)

Katz Gluten Free (US),

Genius Foods (UK),

Chosen Foods LLC (US),

BFree (Ireland),

Mickey's LLC (US),

Rachel Pauls Food (US),

Gee Free LLC (US),

Fody Foods (Canada),

Gluten-free Prairie (US),

Gluten Free Cornwall (UK),

Feel Good Foods (US),

Canyon Bakehouse LLC (US),

Barr Necessities (US),

Avena Foods Limited (Canada), and

Complete Start (US).

Target Audience:

Supply-side: Gluten-free products manufacturer, gluten-free raw material and ingredient suppliers, importers and exporters of gluten-free products and gluten-free ingredients.

Demand-side: Gluten-free retailers, distributors, and wholesalers.

Regulatory side: Concerned government authorities, commercial research & development (R&D) institutions, and other regulatory bodies

Associations and industry bodies: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food Safety Council (FSC), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) , Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO), National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA), Gluten-Free Standards Organization (GFSA), International Certification Services (ICS), World Health Organization (WHO), All India Food Processing Association (AIFPA), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Center for Food Safety (CFS), World Bank, and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Report Scope:

By Type:

Bakery products Breads, rolls, buns, and cakes. Cookies, crackers, wafers, and biscuits. Baking mixes and flours.

Snacks & RTE products

Condiments & dressings

Pizzas & pastas

Other types

By Distribution Channel:

Conventional stores Grocery stores Mass merchandizers Warehouse clubs Online retailers

Specialty stores Bakery stores Confectionery stores Gourmet stores

Drugstores & pharmacies

By Form:

Solid

Liquid

By Source:

Plant Rice & corn Oilseeds & pulses Others

Animal Dairy Meat



By Region:

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

South America

Middle East and Africa

Recent Developments

In October 2019, Dr. Sch�r AG/SPA has a strong foothold in the European market and, thus, expanded its international boundaries in Argentina and Turkey by launching two new sales offices. This development consists of 2 parts.

Acquiring 70% share of a company named Frigluten (Argentina) and renaming it as Sch�r Argentina S.A. this will benefit in boosting the company�s sales volumes in the Argentinean market where the market for gluten-free products is witnessing a rising awareness. Dr. Sch�r AG/SPA acquired shares of the Turkish brand named Glutensiz Ada and renamed it as Dr. Sch�r Turkey A.S. this will aid the company in selling a line of gluten-free products

In October 2018, Barilla G.E.R Fratelli S.P.A launched a new line of one-ingredient legume pasta, produced from either chickpeas or red legumes. This development will aid the company in catering to a wider scope of demand and in tapping the newly evolving plant-based protein and fiber foods. The company launched a line of products including red lentil rotini, red lentil penne, chickpea rotini, and chickpea casarecca to cater to a customer base that prefers following plant-based and gluten-free dietary lifestyles.

In August 2018, Annie�s Inc, a natural and organic food brand owned by General Mills, announced the launch of its new product in the market. The newly introduced product was named gluten-free cheddar bunny tails, which is a crispy cracker snack with cheddar cheese. This product was introduced to target the kids going to school, who already consumed the previous product, named Cheddar Bunnies, and to a newer set of the target population. Thus, this development will increase the consumer base as it is free-from gluten.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

What is the current size of the global gluten-free products market? The global gluten-free products market is estimated to be USD 5.6 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 8.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 8.1%. What are the recent key developments in the market, by any global company, in the gluten-free products market? For instance, in December 2019, Quinoa Corporation announced the acquisition of a brand-named Pamela�s (US). This development will benefit it in doubling the business under the UBN by strengthening its potential for expanding across the retail sector. Also, this will benefit the company in combining the gluten-free line of products, formulation expertise, and supplier network resulting in boosting the brand and product portfolio in the US market and beyond. Which are the key star players in the global gluten-free products market? The Kraft Heinz Company (US), The Hain Celestial Group Inc (US), General Mills (US), Kellogg�s Company (US), ConAgra Brands Inc (US), Hero AG (Switzerland), Barilla G.E.R Fratelli S.P.A (Italy), Katz Gluten Free (US), Genius Foods (UK), Chosen Foods LLC (US), BFree (Ireland), and Mickey's LLC (US) are the major stars in the gluten-free products market. What are the upcoming growth opportunities that gluten-free product manufacturers are focusing on in the future? Gluten-free product manufacturers are majorly focusing on developing and formulating a new line of gluten-free product and categories to cater to the dynamic demand of the consumers and providing them with higher shelf life, convenient, and cost-effective line of products. What are the key growth strategies adopted by major market players in the gluten-free products market? The leading companies adopted various strategies such as new product development & launches, mergers & acquisitions, expansions & investments, and agreements & collaborations. To sustain in the competitive market, the players adopted new product developments and launches as the key strategy in the gluten-free products market. New product launches accounted for 50% of the total strategic developments in the market during the review period. The adoption of this strategy ensured the development of new products and helped the companies to strengthen their product portfolios. .

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