This year for Coeliac Awareness Week Coeliac UK are focusing on the availability of gluten-free products in supermarkets. They know how frustrating it can be for Coeliacs having to shop in various different supermarkets rather than just one to do a weekly shop and get everything they want.
I, for one, am constantly frustrated at the lack of new gluten-free products in any of the supermarkets I shop in, in Leek or Macclesfield. When a new product comes out and there's a huge buzz about it on social media, the majority of the time it does not appear in any of my supermarkets until months after (with the exception of the new wraps from Costa Coffee) when the hype has usually died down and we're on to the next new gluten-free craze. This may be because I live in a small town, on the outskirts of the countryside, half an hour from any big city (Manchester or Stoke-on-Trent) but this doesn't change the fact that there are people living with Coeliac Disease who need to shop for food! The availability and convenience of a range of gluten-free products (not just one or two options) in every supermarket is something I feel so strongly about and I really hope that by raising awareness of this need for choice this Coeliac Awareness Week, supermarkets will listen and take action.
Supermarkets are getting much better, I must admit, and do offer a lot more choice than they did, say, 10 years ago as the demand for gluten-free products increases but there's still plenty more they could do. This improvement is due to the sheer number of people being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease which is growing at a huge rate. According to official statistics released this week the number of people diagnosed in the UK with Coeliac Disease has increased fourfold in the past 20 years. And this number is likely to grow which in turn will increase the demand for gluten-free food in our supermarkets.
For Coeliac Awareness Week this year Coeliac UK are asking supermarkets to sign up to their 'Gluten-Free Guarantee'. They would like all supermarkets to stock a core 8 gluten-free items, items we use day to day which they feel should be readily available to Coeliacs which are:-
- Fresh white bread
- Fresh brown bread
- Bread rolls
- Pasta
- Flour
- Cereal
- Cereal bars
- Crackers
I decided to do my own research here because I believe the supermarkets in Leek where I live can be a bit hit and miss when it comes to gluten-free products. I know, Leek, despite being a small town, is not the worst place for gluten-free availability but it certainly isn't the best either and I think there is plenty of room for improvement.
My Challenge
During this week I paid a visit to all the major supermarkets in Leek (including a couple that were a bit further afield but I occasionally shop in when I'm at work or visiting friends in nearby Stoke-on-Trent) to suss out the gluten-free availability in each store. Armed with my Gluten-Free Guarantee supermarket postcard supplied by Coeliac UK and my trusty pen, I spent some time looking at each Free From section and counting the number of items on offer. I did get a few funny looks from people as I stood in front of the shelves scrutinising them but I didn't really care, this was all in the name of research.
Have you filled yours in yet?
Here are my findings...
|
Supermarket
|
|
|
|
|
|
How
many types of
|
Sainsburys
Leek
|
Tesco
Hanley
|
Tesco
Metro Macclesfield
|
Waitrose
Leek
|
Asda
Leek
|
Morrisons
Leek
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fresh
white bread
|
2
|
6
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
Fresh
brown bread (includes seeded)
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
6
|
1
|
3
|
Bread
rolls
|
2
|
5
|
2
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
Flour
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
Pasta
|
7
|
6
|
2
|
6
|
1
|
2
|
Cereal
(including porridge oats)
|
18
|
10
|
5
|
16
|
1
|
3
|
Cereal
bars
|
9
|
4
|
3
|
10
|
3
|
4
|
Crackers
|
7
|
6
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
2
|
Total no of items
|
52
|
45
|
22
|
56
|
6
|
17
|
As you can see, way out in front were Waitrose and Sainsburys with an impressive 56 and 52 points respectively and no score lower than a 2 or 3 which means that in every one of the 8 categories there was more than one product to choose from. That means choice! And lots of it. Very close behind was Tesco in Hanley with a decent selection in all 8 categories. By far the worst supermarket for choice was Asda in Leek. This is only a small Asda store but the fact that this store did not even have white bread, rolls, flour, and crackers and only one choice of brown bread, pasta and cereal really isn't good enough and fell well below the standard set out by the Gluten-Free Guarantee. I will definitely be writing to head office about this particular Asda store. It's a good job there are plenty of other supermarkets in Leek to choose from otherwise I'd be pretty stuck. The most impressive Free From display must be awarded to Tesco in Hanley who had a massive Free From section, by far the biggest display in all 6 supermarkets I visited - the shelving took up pretty much half an aisle! (Wish I'd taken a photo). The smallest Free From section was Asda who had a pitiful 3 shelves - very disappointing.
On the whole I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of gluten-free products available where I shop. It's great to see that most supermarkets' Free From range are developing and expanding. Sainsburys and Tesco have their own very extensive Free From range, consisting of not only all your essential items such as bread and cereal, but Sainsburys even have their own frozen food Free From section including pizza, sausages, veggie burgers, chicken nuggets and fish fingers, whilst Tesco have a few of the more unusual items such as cous cous and jars of their own pasta sauce. Most supermarkets I visited stocked plenty of well known brands too such as Genius Foods, Newburn Bakehouse, Perkier Foods, Mrs Crimbles and Udi's Gluten Free, perhaps Morrisons being the only exception. I'm confident that over the next couple of years we'll see a lot more variety in our supermarket Free From sections, new companies starting their own ranges and supermarket Free From sections taking up much bigger shelf space in the aisles rather than just a couple of tiny shelves pushed at the end of an aisle. Perhaps also, supermarkets will begin to lower their prices of Free From products as the demand for these increases. We can but dream!
How does your supermarket fare? Do you have access to all 8 items on a regular basis in your local supermarket? Please comment below or send me a photo of your local supermarket's Free From aisle.
