instore - June 2017 - 12

merchandising

ON DISPLAY

Allergen-free baked goods
The dough helps Wild Flour offer more of solution for allergens instead of
just a singular option.
"It used to be when you went somewhere, they would just have one
option," Stephens says. "We'd really like to expand that conversation to
a solution instead of an option. What can you have in each category of
your menu? That's what we're doing with our products. Because it's a
dough, you can do something in each of the menu categories."
That's key when it comes to the full basket and ticket, says Josh
Shurtleff, vice-president of operations for Smart Flour Foods in Austin,
TX. If one person is dealing with an allergen issue, that impacts the
decisions of everyone to whom they're attached.

Allergen-free baked goods have come a long way since the days of dry,
crumbly breads and stale-tasting pizza crusts.
Today, suppliers are offering products and doughs that rival their counterparts in taste, appearance and texture. The key thing is making sure
your consumers are aware of that fact.
"It's frustrating when you have to pay a premium dollar for a substandard product or a lesser experience," says Lynnette Stephens, accounts
manager for Wild Flour Bakery in Longmont, CO, and a celiac patient.
"We should raise our expectations. We should have the expectation
that our food has taste and texture and that it's an enjoyable experience: an experience I'm paying for with a premium dollar."
Wild Flour Bakery pushes that mindset further with a line of glutenfree doughs for everything from pizza doughs, sandwich rolls, cookies,
biscotti and more.
The company's ready-to-bake dough for pizza and hoagie rolls brought
home a FABI Award and was on display at last month's National
Restaurant Association show in Chicago.
The company claims it is the only gluten-free dough able to withstand
the more-than 900-degree temperatures created by wood, coal, gas or
infrared ovens without par-baking or developing burned edges.

Lynnette Stephens, Wild Flour Bakery

12 * JUNE 2017 * instore

Smart Flour showcased its
line of hamburger buns,
hoagie rolls, pizza crusts
and pancake and waffle
mixes at the NRA show, all
of which are based on the
company's ancient grand
flour blend of sorghum,
amaranth and teff.
The blend - along with
what Shurtleff said was "a
lot of labor" and the help
of a resident grain scientist
- has resulted in that the
company says are products that are indistinguishable from everyday high-end products.
"Ancient grains are definitely trending and moving up in the trend listings in rank.," Shurtleff says. "We think it's very on-trend and makes a
great product for us. "
A full-range of doughs and products can help a store build an offering
of allergen-friendly products for every part of the meal. "We see what
they're currently doing and then showing them what we can do with
our dough to match that in a gluten-free solution for their customer
that is representative of what they want," Stephens says.

RYAN ATKINSON

"What can you have in each category
of your menu?"

"We talk about the veto vote within a family," he says. "If one or two
family members (have a sensitivity), then the entire family needs to go
somewhere where they're
catered to. You don't just
lose one ticket if you don't
have an option for them,
you lose an entire family's."

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