Milling & Baking News - June 24, 2014 - 28

Product Perspective 

with marketers, retailers, food industry trade associations, celiac advocacy groups and federal
agencies. A proprietary consumer survey was
based on a national on-line poll conducted in
August 2012. Secondary research entailed data
from such sources as trade and consumer publications, company literature and the government.
Mr. Sheluga said Ardent Mills tries to analyze the gluten-free market more accurately
from a business perspective.

"We meticulously review all products that
have a gluten-free statement anywhere on
the package, and from those we reduce it
to just those that have a gluten-free claim
prominently on the front made by a manufacturer dedicated to gluten-free products,"
Mr. Sheluga said.
For example, a potato chip product might
mention gluten-free on the back of a package
but not on the front of a package, he said. The

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potato chip product might be inherently gluten-free anyway. It thus would not qualify as a
gluten-free product in analysis by Ardent Mills.
Also, if a company makes a slight reformulation to a product to remove all the gluten from it, the product might not qualify as
a gluten-free product in analysis by Ardent
Mills. If such a product had a strong sales history prior to being reformulated to be free of
gluten, it would not be a gluten-free product
in analysis by Ardent Mills.
Mr. Sheluga said there is no way to "disentangle" sales going forward and separate
the number of people buying the product because it now has no gluten and the number
of people buying the product because they
always bought it.
Mr. Sheluga said Ardent Mills has followed
up with people who take the company's surveys
and say they are avoiding gluten. In further conversation, Ardent Mills has discovered that when
people say they are avoiding gluten, what many
of them mean is they are cutting down on bread,
bagels, muffins and donuts, Mr. Sheluga said.
Perhaps they gained a few lbs over the holidays
and wanted to lose weight, which they believed
cutting down on bread, muffins and donuts
would help them do, Mr. Sheluga said.
"There is a world of difference between
avoiding gluten and buying gluten-free products," Mr. Sheluga said.
Core customers account for much of
gluten-free product sales, he said. Of the
$1,219.5 million in sales in calendar year
2013, according to the Ardent Mills report,
70% was accounted for by 3.8% of U.S.
households, or the core buyers of gluten-free
products. On average, the core buyers bought
49 gluten-free products per year per household and spent $189 year per household on
gluten-free products.
Mr. Sheluga began studying the glutenfree market in 2009 when he was working for
ConAgra Foods, Inc. and ConAgra Mills, Inc. Ardent Mills started business on May 29, 2014. It
combines the operations of ConAgra Mills and
Horizon Milling, a Cargill-CHS joint venture. MBN
it inserted back, and featured prominently, in the conversation.
"Otherwise, we'll continue to be
challenged with a tragically low diagnosis rate at a huge cost to families
and our health care system overall."
During "Celiac Awareness Month"
in May the foundation educated the
public about gluten-free diets and
celiac disease, including how healthy
such a diet may be.
"Though some gluten-free options
are healthful, eliminating gluten when
people do not have a medical necessity for doing so is unwarranted," the
foundation said. MBN
- Jeff Gelski

28 / June 24, 2014 Milling
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Milling & Baking News - June 24, 2014

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