The global gluten-free products market size is estimated to account for about USD 5.6 billion in 2020 and projected to reach a value of nearly USD 8.3 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 8.1% from 2020 to 2025. The gluten-free products market is driven by factors such as increased diagnosis of celiac diseases and rising adoption for special dietary lifestyles & free form food products.
Driver: Increased diagnosis of celiac disease and other food allergies
Gluten intolerance or celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder, which damages the small intestine lining and prevents the absorption of nutrients from consumed food items. If this is left untreated, it can lead to developing other immunity disorders, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer. The effect of celiac disease is more in developing countries than in the western world. The prevalence of these celiac diseases was unknown to the majority of the population as it could have been easily misdiagnosed for some other digestion-related problem.
However, with the development of simple but reliable diagnostic methods, the situation has changed. This has made it possible to analyze the frequency of celiac disease in different cultures and regions, thereby giving a major boost to epidemiological research in this field. The consumption of gluten-free products and avoidance of gluten-containing products are currently the only way to treat celiac disease, thereby driving the demand for gluten-free products.
Restraint: Gluten-free products lacks an adequate amount of dietary fibers, resulting in constipation and other ailments of digestive system
A gluten-free diet isn’t necessarily a healthier diet as perceived by the population shifting toward gluten-free dietary lifestyles due to an array of health benefits offered. Gluten-free flours that are further used to make gluten-free products such as breads, pasta, pizza, and other bakery goods can be highly refined and are low in fiber with a high glycemic index (GI). Sometimes, to match the taste, texture, and feel of these gluten-free ingredients or flours to conventional gluten-containing ingredients, fats and sugar are additionally added, which can lead to human health issues. Several people consuming a gluten-free dietary lifestyle are adopting low-fiber diets, as gluten-free foods are often made with low-fiber refined flours and starches, such as white rice flour, tapioca starch, corn starch, and potato starch.
Opportunity: Adoption of micro-encapsulation technology to improve the shelf-life of gluten-free products
In conventional gluten-containing foods and food products, gluten proteins are responsible for the management and retention of moisture, which in turn, impart the products with a relatively long shelf-life. However, when the products are manufactured gluten-free, to cater to the increasing demand of the global end consumers, it tends to have a shorter shelf-life and, in most cases, lacks its texture aesthetics. Furthermore, it is tough for the key players to manufacture a line of gluten-free products to increase moisture retention and shelf-life. Thus, they require continuous R&D and incorporation of newer technologies to attain the desired shelf-life.
Microencapsulation is one such recent technology that can aid manufacturers to achieve this goal of increasing the shelf-life and texture of their range of gluten-free products.
Challenge: Formulation challenges faced by manufacturers
Changing a consumer’s dietary lifestyle to gluten-free lifestyles is extremely difficult. A majority of people are not able to adapt to it because of the difference in its texture, flavor, taste, and many other reasons. This creates a major challenge for several key players in the global market.
In gluten-free manufacturing, the manufacturer not only needs to find and source alternative compounds to bind the ingredients together but also needs to ensure that the taste, texture, appearance, cost, shelf-life, and nutritional content are all maintained according to the standards expected by consumers. As end consumers are hesitant to change their dietary lifestyles to gluten-free products, owing to differences in the original and these products, manufacturers have to make sure that there is maximum similarity in the products resulting in reducing the resistance by end consumers.
