Chef who aims to expand free from range

When a chef was diagnosed as being coeliac, she quickly found that the range of food she could consume from the supermarket shelves was limited.
Sally Allister, founder and managing director of Feel Free, talks about there new production facility.Sally Allister, founder and managing director of Feel Free, talks about there new production facility.
Sally Allister, founder and managing director of Feel Free, talks about there new production facility.

However, Sally Allister decided to take action and from her initial disappointment sprung up a successful business.

In 2004, following a frustrating trip to the supermarket, Mrs Allister and her husband Stuart decided to set up an online shop catering for the gluten free market selling other producers’ ranges.

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Fast forward over a decade and Feel Free For Gluten Free is about to open a new production site in Brackenholme near Selby, not too far from its head office.

Being a chef Mrs Allister found her new dietary requirements after diagnosis to be a double-edged sword.

The managing director said: “It was frustrating because I am a chef by trade but at the same it was a little bit easier for me because I am a chef and I could cook without gluten in my food.

“It was really eating out, ready meals and buying the off-the-shelf items that were the problem.”

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Shops and supermarkets have come to realise, since the early days of Mrs Allister’s diagnosis, the need for free from products for coeliacs.

“They’re definitely expanding their ranges. I still think there’s some work to be done – the ambient fixtures are larger than the frozen,” says Mrs Allister.

There needs to be more ready meal choices.

Mrs Allister added: “The retailers are addressing it. It is certainly a lot better than when I was first diagnosed, when I set up the business.”

Feel Free For Gluten Free plans on opening its new production site next month. The site will see an extra five staff members taken on initially. Over the course of the next 12-18 months that will probably increase to 10 to 12 staff members says Mrs Allister.

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The business has a turnover of £750,000 and currently employs four people at its head office and a further six people are employed at another production site in Worthing, West Sussex.

While the ultimate aim of the business is to increase the range of options for gluten free diets, Mrs Allister says that Feel Free For Gluten Free is also about catering for those who aren’t coeliac and just looking for good tasting food.

She said: “The important thing for us going forward is getting our brand recognised. Not just being a go-to brand for free from but also being recognised as a brand that has quality products that anybody can enjoy.

“You don’t have to be coeliac and even if you are dipping into the free from market out of choice there’s no difference in what you’re eating in terms of taste and quality.”

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With the free from market growing, the Selby-based SME is looking to increase its market share over the next few years.

Mrs Allister said: “We want to increase our market share. There’s a few key competitors out there but we want to drive our market share over the next three to five years.”

Packing in the doughnuts

The new site in Brackenholme will house three doughnut machines that will produce Feel Free’s regular and mini ring doughnuts – around 800 an hour – to be stocked in stores including Tesco.

Production at the site will also focus on new product development with a view to launching more gluten free doughnut products later in 2016. Feel Free raised £200,000 funding to help set up the site.

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The company has a number of stockists including Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsburys.

The UK’s free from market is worth around £365m and, according to Mintel, is expected to grow by another 50 per cent by 2019.

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