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Gluten-free oats: Tap into the free-from oat opportunity
In the UK, it is now estimated that at least 10% of UK consumers are following a gluten free diet due to adverse reactions to the protein.1
Like with most allergies, there’s a sliding scale of intolerance. Some people are looking to combat bloating or a sensitive stomach, while an estimated one in 100 UK consumers have coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition caused by reaction to the protein, and must avoid gluten altogether.
Despite the high prevalence of the disease, only 36% of people are medically diagnosed.2 Symptoms range from the more commonly expected stomach pain and fatigue all the way through to neurological problems and unexplained sub fertility. With a lack of education around the potential symptoms, many people go years without a diagnosis which can have severe implications for their health.
Although oats can offer a great source of nutrition for those with both non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease, the grain is only gluten-free when kept 100% pure. Cross-contamination is therefore still an issue affecting the community. This is why it is essential for food and drink manufacturers looking to create inclusive products to source ingredients that can guarantee absolute purity and free-from accreditation.
Glebe Farm Foods, the Cambridgeshire-based producer of the UK’s purest, gluten-free oats, put the natural, nutrient-rich grain at the heart of everything it does, helping food and drink manufacturers across the country craft oat-based products with unparalleled taste – through only cooking once, Glebe Farm oats retain the natural flavours, aromas and nutritional benefits of the grain – and a free-from guarantee.
Glebe Farm oats are as pure as they come. A test sample of each load is hand sifted to check for foreign grains and are milled to a purity of always under 1ppm, which is 20x less than the industry gluten-free standard. This provides 100% reliability on the R5 ELISA test of <5ppm limit of sensitivity. It’s therefore unsurprising that Glebe Farm Foods’ branded PureOaty range is market certified as safe to consume by Coeliac UK.
It is this incredibly clean standard that means bulk customers of Glebe Farm find consumer complaints of cross contamination reactions – known as ‘gluting’ in the community – disappear. It is this crucial peace of mind that keeps shoppers and restaurant-goers returning to their products and venues again and again. The guaranteed purity also minimises quality control failures, making businesses more efficient.
In billions of servings, Glebe Farm Foods has not had a single customer reporting a ‘gluting’ event, demonstrating the importance placed on the health of customers by the oat processor. It could even be argued that the company is producing oats to aeronautical standards of purity because failure – and risk of causing severe health issues – is not an option.
Sustainable manufacturing
Impressively, 100% of Glebe Farm Foods’ oats are sown, milled and produced in the UK, with oats sourced within 70 miles of the farm. After investing in a new multi-million-pound Tetra Pak plant in 2023, all Glebe Farm’s products are now processed and packaged onsite.
This brings down food mileage from oat milling to packing to 150 metres, and PureOaty oat drink’s climate footprint to 0.268kg CO2e per litre. To give comparison, this is half of the carbon burden of other declared oat milks in the UK, and 78% less than typical UK dairy milk.
Despite already making great strides, the oat producer is constantly looking at ways to evolve and improve its sustainability credentials. As such, the Tetra Pak cartons are made from mostly renewable materials and all production and packing are powered by solar and biomass energy, created on site.
Producing and packaging oat products at Glebe Farm has also proved appealing to manufacturers looking to champion local produce and British farming. Consumer demands for home-grown food and drink remains strong – 54% of UK shoppers are more likely to buy a product from a company if it is made in Britain.3
Not only benefitting from sustainability, provenance and authenticity credentials, many brands have partnered with Glebe Farm as a crucial strategy to expand manufacturing reliability, peace of mind and presence in the competitive UK food and drink manufacturing sector. With the industry valued at a staggering £128 billion, comprising predominantly of SMEs, the need for cost-effective solutions to drive growth has become paramount.4
According to the FDF, despite the sector's focus on innovation and healthy food offerings, total investments saw a dramatic decline since the cost-of-living crisis, with a fall of 22.7%, necessitating more cost-efficient operational approaches.4 Glebe Farm Foods' investment in an on-site Tetra Pak plant not only highlights a commitment to sustainability but also presents a lifeline for SMEs seeking to navigate production cost increases.
By leveraging Glebe Farm Foods' offerings of bulk ingredient purchasing as well as co-packing capabilities, brands can simplify operations and allocate resources towards product development, aligning with the industry's growth priorities.
Looking to meet the needs of a dietary diverse population without risk, while also improving the efficiency of your business? Get in touch with the team of oat-experts at Glebe Farm Foods. The portfolio of bulk supplied products can be browsed here.
References
1. Coeliac UK. What gluten free consumers want.
2. Coeliac UK. About coeliac disease.
3. YouGov Poll, August 2023 2 NFU British Farming Day Sept 23, 3 Blue Marble Qual Research 2023.
4. FDF Sate of Industry Survey 2022