February 5, 2021
Gluten Free 101 – Our take on how to approach Gluten free baked products
Gluten is a type of protein which is found in cereals such as wheat, barley, and rye. It helps to improve the following characters in a bread:
- Helps to increase the dough strength
- Provides better elasticity – helps in giving the products a stronger structure and uniform shape to bread
- Ensures water absorption and retention
- Enhances the flavour of the bread
The process of gluten formation happens when flour is mixed with water wherein gluten proteins form a sticky network which forms a glue-like consistency, this phenomenon ensures the dough becomes elastic and gives the bread an ability to rise.
A person with gluten intolerance or sensitivity may experience pain and bloat after eating foods that contain gluten.
Contrary to popular opinion, there has been a gradual rise in demand for gluten-free baked products from both the gluten tolerant and gluten intolerant community, this has been due to common belief that gluten-free loaves of bread are healthier than wheat flour-based baked products. To cater to such demand, every baker should keep gluten-free baked products on their shelf to cater to the growing demand.
With the growth of health-conscious consumers, there has been an equally growing need for such products to have a similar taste profile of bread. Consumers who are intolerant to gluten (celiac disease) are used to having gluten-free bread, however gluten tolerant consumers expect the taste to match gluten-based products.
Gluten-free baked products market can be segmented into the following sub-categories:
- Biscuits and Cookies
- Bread
- Cakes and Pastries
It is difficult to bake such products in a commercial set up at a large scale, it becomes even more difficult to bake a gluten-free range of such products. Demand for such products in Nepal are also inconsistent due to which bakers get discouraged to keep such high-value products on the shelf, rather they prefer to bake it based on customer orders.
We enlist some of the common challenges faced by bakers in dealing with gluten-free baked products at their outlet:
- Demand Inconsistency & High Pricing
Problem: The demand for gluten-free baked products is upcoming due to which it is difficult to predict consistent orders for the same. To augment to the demand issues, Gluten-free products usually have a lower yield as compared to regular products and which adds to the complexities of baking, ingredients’ sourcing and stocking. The baked Gluten-free products end up being a tad expensive for the market to accept easily.
Solution: We recommend creating a database of such customers as and when they demand gluten-free baked products at the outlet. The baker can fix a day of the week and inform such customers to purchase these products, this will ensure to have a brand recall in the customer’s mind for specific days in which the customer can purchase. It is common practice in Nepal wherein a few bakeries have cut off days i.e. European Bakery (Baluwatar) and Hermann Helmers (Jhamsikhel) keep doughnuts only on Saturday, these are usually sold out by lunchtime. Using a premix can avoid wastage in commercial batches which helps lower costs and thereby improve yields.
- Recipe for Gluten-free baked products
Problem: Replacing wheat flour and gluten with the right substitute is a challenging task which can be perfected only with trial and error. It becomes difficult to scale such recipes and ensure consistent results. Variation happens in every product that uses natural ingredients however if the number of ingredients used is higher, then the possibility of variation in the product also increases. Gluten-free products are often plagued with such issues. Hence, maintaining consistency also plays a vital role and act as a challenge for bakers baking gluten-free confectioneries.
Solution: Sarawagi Group has numerous Gluten-free products by Swiss Bake which are ready to use and provide consistent taste profile for commercial baking.
- Sourcing of Ingredients
Problem: Bakers in Nepal find it difficult to consistently source ingredients to bake gluten-free baked products. Bakers are forced to use a gluten-free all–purpose flour which does not suit all applications, to provide a range of baked products, different types of ingredients must be sourced based on the application.
Solution: Sarawagi Group has numerous Gluten-free products by Swiss Bake which are ready to use and provide consistent taste profile for commercial baking.
- Low shelf life
Problem: Gluten-free products lack flour which significantly reduces the water retention capacity of the products and thus have a low shelf life of the baked product. Gluten-free products need to be consumed within 48 hours of baking or under proper refrigeration, they can be used for a period of 3-4 days. With demand inconsistency, a baker can end up losing money in unsold inventory.
Solution: We recommend creating a database of such customers as and when they demand gluten-free baked products at the outlet. The baker can fix a day of the week and inform such customers to purchase these products, this will ensure to have a brand recall in the customer’s mind for specific days in which the customer can purchase. It is common practice in Nepal wherein a few bakeries have cut off days i.e. European Bakery (Baluwatar) and Hermann Helmers (Jhamsikhel) keep doughnuts only on Saturday, these are usually sold out by lunchtime. Using a premix can avoid wastage in commercial batches which helps lower costs and thereby improve yields.
Keeping in mind, the problems arising with baking gluten-free baked products, Sarawagi Group has introduced Gluten-Free Multigrain Bread and Cake Mix, both are ready to use premixes for baking gluten-free products.
These products are available with us at Sarawagi Group, feel free to contact us at +977-9802069589.