“International expansion has been on our agenda over the last two decades,” Berger says.
Gluten-free foods might be niche but they are an everyday essential for coeliac disease sufferers and those with other sensitivity disorders.
It’s a consumer group Dr. Schär has sought to serve since the business was founded in Italy. Since its inception more than four decades ago, the company has seen revenue increase to EUR480m (US$520m) and another EUR20m is targeted this year.
Despite the growing assortment in free-from aisles suggesting appetite for gluten-free foods is rising, Dr. Schär chief executive Hannes Berger says the category has witnessed the slow demise of the fad or lifestyle era. However, that hasn’t stopped the company from expanding into new geographical markets and doubling the proportion of revenue generated outside of Italy.
The list of ingredients causing gluten sensitivity is long, from wheat and barley found in bread and beer to wheat derivatives such as durum in pasta. Wheat is also a common thickening component used in sauces and condiments and can even be found in some confectionery products.
Growth in gluten-free in some countries is hindered by a lack of diagnosis of coeliac disease, which if overcome would provide further global impetus to the category, Berger tells Just Food.
A Dr. Schär veteran, Berger was recently appointed as CEO having headed up the company’s North America business, while overseeing the UK and South American operations too.
“If I go back in time, the gluten-free market was growing significantly, not only in Europe but also in the US because there was hype behind gluten-free – it was becoming a lifestyle, predicated by people from Hollywood, celebrities trying to start a gluten-free life,” Italy-born Berger explains.
“But that is something which is now coming down in a way and substituted, especially in the US, by other, let’s say, special requests on nutrition. For instance, people are looking for a vegan, vegetarian or keto diet,…