Why is gluten free food so expensive?

Nurseshark

I don't have coeliacs disease but I cannot tolerate gluten (dodgy stomach guaranteed and have been tested for coeliacs). The cost of gluten free foods is so high compared to similar items. I usually get them from Tescos or Sainsburys as they have the best range, but wonder if there are online companies that sell decent tasting and cheaper gluten free foods. Tried cooking g/f stuff myself - not very successful and the flour costs a lot!

McKneff

my gut reaction (no pun intended) gawd, i think i made a joke there

is that its a captive audience, you have no choice and they are all robbing bxxxxstds.:rotfl:Its outrageous that they are allowed to get away with it.

maybe i am wrong - and i am happy to be corrected.

hanstar

approved foods usually have gluten free products stocked, could be a bit hit and miss to what they have stocked but maybe worth a look.

katylou6180

Approved food sent me an email saying they have them at the moment, if you are not too fussy about the BB date then stock up quick:)

Onemorething_2

I second Katylou's post about using Approved Food. I have a wheat intolerance and have used them a few times to stock up - most of the gluten free foods are in air tight packaging so they tend to last a long time anyway. Also re GF flour, Tesco is currently doing the Doves Farm plain gluten free flour for £1, I think it's a long term offer, so it's worth experimenting with. HTH.

soolin

I am a coeliac and although I am entitled to certain GF foods on prescription I tend to avoid those and buy the nicer supermarket stuff instead.

When I asked one of the big manufacturers once about costs I was told it was a number of reasons. Firstly certain gluten free food is difficult to make (as we have all found out with our own baking) and the extra time and complication costs money. Secondly the requirement for fully compliant premises mean that they can't use the larger cheaper premises and just churn stuff out, the smaller premises tend to have higher overheads.

I am currently buying the Genius gf loaves from Tesco at £2.49, it's lovely bread but so very expensive for a tiny little loaf. However DS have now bought out a rival that is to be stocked by Asda and i am hoping that competition will mean lower prices overall.

My main issue is that when I am out I can no longer get gf sandwiches , Boots used to do them but they suddenly just stopped one day.

pullenuk

Another reason why its expensive its supply and demand. They can't produce huge amounts of gluten free products because people don't buy them in huge demands.

Huge demands are required to push the prices down. In my Sainsburys you don't fill up the gluten free stuff as much and very rarely have excess stock in the warehouse because they simply do not sell as much as "normal" ranges.

anniemf2508

My hubby is a coeliac and Approved food have been a godsend to us...yes he gets 4 units of gf food on prescription a week (he mainly has breadmix or pasta) but its hardly enough.
Had a AF order arrive yesterday which was pretty much all gf stuff, couldn't really pass up 5 boxes of breadmix for £1 really!

If you want to make your own stuff i would highly recommend Phil Vickery's book "Simply Good"

Little_Vics

I feel the same - am so angry about prices that I have basically cut anything that involves wheat out of my diet completely rather than find a gf replacement.

Thanks for the heads up about the website and Vickery's book - will check them out!

Onemorething_2

Just to add that the Phil Vickery book is called "Seriously Good" and is currently on sale at the Book People for £4.99, hope this helps someone.

Reverbe

Less call for it I suppose... was about to mention the Phil Vickery book I saw on This Moring a while back but have been beaten to it.. they don't seem to have done Fern much harm... she looks like a well fed girl lol