Gluten free Grocer hits town

Gluten-free food has a reputation for being over-priced and tasteless but a family business in Auckland has set out to change this.

Gluten free Grocer on Eden Terrace will provide a one-stop shop for Auckland’s ever growing coeliac, wheat-free and gluten-free community. The store will boast a wide range of breads and pastries, a deli selection, baking supplies, cereals and ready to eat meals.

Owned and operated by Mitch and Sarah King it will be the first gluten-free supermarket in New Zealand.

Mrs King said the business idea came about after their two young children were diagnosed as gluten-free three years ago. “That process of finding things for our children to eat was just ridiculous. We went to the Gluten Free Show at the end of May and it all just tasted so horrible and we were so upset about it, so we just started making things at home. It just became a natural progression.”

They launched a supermarket website www.glutenfreegrocer.co.nz in July 2009. It proved to be popular across New Zealand with deliveries from Invercargill to Paihia. “We thought it was always going to be just a website but it’s taken off. It’s just been hectic.”

With such a high demand, the company, at only three months old, moved to a bigger premise in Kingsland. It is here that they have been working on the Gluten free Grocer store. “This has taken us four months. We have quite literally been working around the clock – it’s just been full on. Our whole family chips in.”

Mrs King said there was a strong emphasis on the quality and freshness of the products. “There’s really not a secret. It's down to the flours you use. We use potato rice and tapioca flour. The hard thing is getting that right but we’ve invested a lot of time in it and it all works just perfectly. The other thing is, we don’t use preservatives and everything is either baked fresh or sold frozen.”

She said their children also helped taste test. “They are now the fussiest to feed. We know if something’s not good that’s for sure! It’s good though, because we are then not sending food to parents which kids won’t eat and like.”

Starting their own business has been tough but Mrs King said she couldn't imagine not doing it. “I love running our own business. We live and breathe every moment together. Our children are also learning the value of hard work which is important.”

Their aim at the moment is getting the store ready for its opening on November 9. “Once we’ve done that we want a number of little stores set up across Auckland. We have bigger plans but you know you have to crawl before you run.”
 

Alexandra O'Hara 20/10/09