Top four tips to succeed with free-from

The choice of free-from food and drinks was now so vast that consumers could drop one product for many others, unless manufacturers protected themselves, according to Viripi Varjonen, a strategist at Invenire Market Intelligence.

“Consumers don’t care about you or your brand,”​ ​said Varjonen. “​They care about free-from and your product can be substituted for any other at any time.”​

Build brand loyalty​

Manufacturers of free-from food and drink had to build brand loyalty, which was almost non-existent in the sector, if they were to maintain steady growth, claimed Varjonen.

“There are four elements that can make your free-from products stand out and include transparency, traceability, trust and origin,” ​she added.

As with all food and drink manufacturers, free-from firms had to ensure they were open about the ingredients used in their products, Varjonen said.

For example, if a product contained more sugar, salt or fat than was expected, it was important to explain why it did, she added. 

“It’s about saying why you need to use a certain system or ingredients in a product … don’t try to lie about it, that will lose you trust.” ​

In addition, being able to show consumers that you can trace every ingredient in a product back to its source would help to boost consumers’ confidence, Varjonen said.

“This is also about removing any ​[perception of] perceived​ risk a consumer might have about your product.” ​

Good traceability​

Having good traceability would also boost trust among consumers, she added.

“Finally, origin: you need to be able to tell consumers a story and why they should buy your product every time by telling its story,” ​said Varjonen.

Meanwhile, David Jago, Mintel director of innovation and insight for the UK, told delegates there would be continued growth in the free-from sector in the next four years.

“The total free-from market was valued at £365M this year and is set to grow to more than £500M by 2019,” ​he claimed.