Caterers lose £100 million annually by disregarding coeliac sufferers

Coeliac UK, the national charity for people with coeliac disease, is encouraging the hospitality industry to reap the benefits of an untapped market by providing safe, gluten-free options for customers. The charity said that eating out is currently a lottery for people with coeliac disease, which is a serious lifelong autoimmune disease triggered by eating gluten. Without keeping to a strict gluten-free diet for life, the condition can lead to serious ill health and other major conditions, such as infertility, osteoporosis and bowel cancer. People with coeliac disease make up 1% of the population - 600,000 people - but the loss to the industry is more as they drive the venue decisions of the people they are eating with. Research of more than 3,000 people with coeliac disease, found that those who do eat out, do so with a minimum of 2-3 other people. And with an average spend of £10 - £20 per head, each meal eaten out is worth around £60 of business to the catering sector. But fears about finding safe gluten-free options are keeping thousands at home. 62% currently eat out once per month or less, while 38% only eat out once every two weeks or more. When asked how often they would eat out with more safe gluten-free options available, 74% said they would eat out once every two weeks or more, while 26% said they would eat out once a month or less. Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Coeliac UK said: "Harnessing this untapped market has obvious potential financial benefits for catering businesses. In these difficult times, when over 40 pubs and restaurants nationally are closing per week, this is a huge market that the hospitality sector cannot afford to miss. "People with coeliac disease want to eat out more often and are ready and willing to spend their money, if only they felt more confident about gluten-free provision. Our partnership with the National Trust and National Trust for Scotland shows it can be done and we want to see safe gluten-free options clearly marked on menus across the UK." Coeliac UK is running an Awareness Campaign from 11 - 17 May 2009 to promote understanding about coeliac disease and for the need for increased gluten-free provision in the hospitality industry. See www.coeliac.org.uk/awarenessweek2009 for further details.