GreenLite targets Europe with gluten free products

Aside from a few ambient product lines, the majority of the products are long shelf-life frozen savoury and sweet baked goods, marketing manager Ofer Eliav told FoodNavigator during a tour of Israel's food and drink companies. Products include breads, burger buns, baguettes and bagels, puff pastries and yeast pastries, pound cakes and cookies.

Eliav claimed the firm's products when thawed out still retained a crispy, fresh texture, rather than becoming soggy, although he admitted it was better to place them in the oven for a few minutes before serving. "The bread is actually better after it has been frozen.​

"We have a background of 20 years of development. We are putting a lot of effort and research into our development. Our vision is that gluten free should taste the same as regular products. Each of our products uses a combination of flours, tapioca; corn; potato, rice. We also use soya powder in some products. We are looking at Europe and are going to be at Sial this year in France. It's the first time we have exhibited outside of Israel."​

US market​

He said the company also wanted to enter the US market and was in conversation with Whole Foods Market. "We have now started to work on that relationship."​

Compared to other gluten free firms, Eliav said GreenLite's prices were highly competitive and were at the same level as non-gluten free artisan baked goods. All products had a shelf life of between six to 12 months, he said. They are also dairy free, contain no casein, lactose, transfats, genetically modified ingredients or artificial colourings.

He said Israel was an ideal base from which to launch gluten free products, because its food industry had been making unleavened bread for thousands of years.

The company has two factories, a dedicated gluten free facility and one that makes premium cake lines. It commands about 45% of the country's market for baked goods.