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EUROPE Gluten free online demand



Previous research into European gluten free markets (online demand), found that they were very under developed. That research and this original analysis uses Google data sets. However the previous research used Google data for ‘global searches’ which actually over estimated the search volumes.

Search volumes for Nov 2009 gluten free associated search term volumes were found and the results shown in the tables below:

France / French TOP TEN (Both English and French searches) 

  FRANCE – English speaking   ...... FRANCE French speaking  
RANK Terms NOV 09 Volumes   Terms NOV 08 Volumes
1 gluten 5400   gluten intolerance 2900
2 gluten free 1900   intolerance gluten 2900
3 celiac 590   gluten free 2400
4 celiac disease 320   free gluten 2400
5 gluten recipes 260   gluten allergies 390
6 gluten free diet 210   corn gluten 390
7 gluten free recipes 210   celiac disease 390
8 wheat gluten 210   wheat gluten 320
9 gluten diet 210   wheat free 260
10 wheat free 210   gluten free bread 140

When compared to analysis for any of the leading gluten free online demand markets such as Australia, USA, Canada or UK, these volumes are INCREDIBLY small. Even for Australia with a population just over 20 million, the term gluten free itself has 165,000 searches. So instead of providing a top 50 analysis, the top 10 terms for Germany and France will be considered.

As for every other country, the generic ‘gluten free’ terms (in English searches) ranks the highest, followed by a celiac associated terms. Most of the terms and the order that compose the standard seven gluten free groups for other countries are present (see typical analysis for Australia).
The French speaking searches (those on the Google French website) show a slightly different pattern. The emphasis seems to be more on the celiac disease than on generic gluten free terms. This usually means that a market is very immature.
GERMAN TOP TEN (Both English and German speaking searches)
  GERMAN – English speaking   ...... GERMAN - German speaking  
RANK Terms NOV 09 VOL   Terms NOV 08 VOL
1 gluten free 2900   gluten free 2900
2 free gluten 2900   free gluten 2900
3 celiac 880   gliadin 1900
4 celiac disease 480   celiac disease 1000
5 gluten recipes 320   wheat gluten 260
6 wheat free 320   wheat free 260
7 sprue 320   gluten free diet 140
8 wheat gluten 320   gluten free bread 110
9 gluten free recipes 260   food gluten 110
10 gluten bread 210   gluten free recipes 91

The German - English speaking search volume order is similar to the France - English speaking order. Gluten free generic terms occupy the first two volume ranks followed by celiac associated terms.

However unlike the French – French speaking keyword list, the German, German speaking volumes show a similar pattern to their English speaking volumes – ie gluten free followed by celiac associated terms.

Why are the European Gluten Free Online Searches so low?

Sales data from actual gluten free product sales in European countries is scant.
The internet penetration (usage) is around 58% in France and 63% in Germany and Google has over 80% market share in both countries – so these results are the lions share of usage patterns. This means that the tables very likely represent the marjority of gluten free searches made in these countries.
The reason that gluten free searches may be so low are that celiac disease may have gone untreated in these countries or that celiacs ‘make do’ with preparing their own home meals without gluten based products.
The following excerpts from various websites suggest that poor gluten free food distribution may also be a reason that gluten free it is relatively unknown in eastern European countries.
A euromontior.com report summarises its findings for specific European countries as:
FRANCE: Food intolerance is largely unacknowledged but Gluten-free leads the way with Specialist shops and pharmacies dominate sales. In Germany awareness of food intolerances is still low, however GF benefits from wider product range. In ITALY Growth is said to be held up by limited distribution but GF products are on the rise. Ref 1
A GF blog (ref 2) discusses personal experience in travelling these countries. In Germany, “GF products such as bread, pasta, cookies are sold only in shops called "Reformhaus", that are located in towns. Some supermarkets offer just GF bread, but this is really rare”
In Italy: “ GF products are on sale mainly in pharmacies located in big towns. (housing a wide range of GF products). It is also possible to buy products in some supermarkets chains. There is no price difference, but the choice of products is better at pharmacies where the Italians can spend their medical prescription.”
An article on celiac.com (ref 3) “My travels were in southern France (the Dordogne/Lot/Vezere area, the Luberon, Provence, Carcassonne). We shopped frequently and I combed grocery stores in larger cities, including Avignon and Toulouse, smaller ones, such as Apt, and tiny villages and hill-towns for gluten-free options. In general, groceries, including the big chains such as Hyper Champion, did not seem to carry exclusively gluten-free products, such as baked goods, and I had to watch for hidden gluten in many brands.”
CONCLUSIONS
Online Gluten free searches in European cities (French and German) remain exceptionally low. As Europeans are believed to be particularly susceptible to celiac disease (they carry the celiac responsible genes), it is believed that low diagnosis levels and a propensity to still cook at home or avoid gluten dishes when eating out has created such a low online demand.
 
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To see other articles on Gluten Free isues, please look in our Original Articles Index.

Article by Bruce Dwyer - GoLeftfield Marketing (www.brucedwyer.com)

 
References
 
Ref 2      cye.freehostia.com/.../Travel_Guide_Coeliac_Youth_of_Europe.pdf