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Allergen-free ready meals to hit shelves
by Owen McAteer - 10/08/2009
"A FOOD company has increased staff numbers as it launches ready meals specifically for people with food intolerances.
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Tanfield Food Company, which employs 62 staff at Hownsgill Park, in Consett, County Durham, has launched a range called It’s A Free World.
It comes as the market for people with food allergies is growing at a rate of up to 60 per cent a year. It is worth £150m and forecast to reach £195m by next year.
Tesco will be the first supermarket to stock the products and the company, which has recently taken on an extra eight people, is in talks with other major high street chains.
Keith Gill, Tanfield’s marketing and sales director, said that, although a lot of the meals they produced were suitable for coeliacs – people with a gluten intolerance – they could go further and create meals for people with other intolerances, such as dairy products or shellfish.
The factory is already nut free.
Mr Gill said: “We had seen the major supermarkets had been allowing space for ‘free from’ areas. They were mainly populated by bakery products, so we decided to use our knowledge to create dishes that were allergen free.
“I think we see it as a growth market in the food industry.
If you talk to the supermarkets, space is precious to them and they have set space aside.”
Mr Gill said that although only about two per cent of the population were diagnosed with food allergies, about 20 per cent of the population were shopping in that area because they want to have healthy options.
He said: “For other people it is a lifestyle choice – for example they might have some pasta and feel bloated. They might not be diagnosed but they feel better for eating products that are gluten free.”
Mr Gill said he believed Tanfield was the first company to produce ready meals specifically for people with food intolerances. It comes as the company, established four years ago, is going through a period of growth.
Mr Gill said: “If our investment plans proceed we should look to treble capacity and obviously take on more people early next year.”
Earlier this year, Tanfield was approached by the BBC to provide its Look What We Found! meals and soups for stars taking part in Comic Relief at Television Centre, in London.
The range is produced using ingredients from smaller- scale farms and producers.
Tanfield supplies its LookWhatWe Found! range to supermarkets, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and has food contracts with airlines bmi and British Airways.
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More Details: http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/4537242.Allergen_free_ready_meals_to_hit_shelves/
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