Previous GFP 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. This is interesting because these countries tend to have a similar celiac rate as America does. This analysis looks at the 2009 monthly gluten free associated searches performed for France and Germany (both in native tongue and English words) and the reasons why they just don’t search for gluten free.
France and Germany are expected to have large online gluten free search demand values, but they don’t. 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 per month)
FRANCE – English speaking
Terms…………….…...NOV 09 Volumes
Gluten………………....5400
gluten free…………..1900
celiac…………………....590
celiac disease……….320
gluten recipes……….260
gluten free diet………210
gluten free recipes…210
wheat gluten………….210
gluten diet……………..210
wheat free……………...210
FRANCE - French speaking
Terms………………….......NOV 08 Volumes
gluten intolerance…… 2900
intolerance gluten……..2900
gluten free…………….....2400
free gluten…………….....2400
gluten allergies………....390
corn gluten……………....390
celiac disease…………....390
wheat gluten……………..320
wheat free………………....260
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 per month)
GERMAN – English speaking
Terms…………………....NOV 09 VOL
gluten free……………..2900
free gluten……………..2900
celiac…………………......880
celiac disease……..….480
gluten recipes…………320
wheat free……………..320
sprue………………….....320
wheat gluten…………..320
gluten free recipes….260
gluten bread……………210
GERMAN - German speaking
Terms…………………....NOV 08 VOL
gluten free………….….2900
free gluten………….….2900
gliadin…………………...1900
celiac disease………...1000
wheat gluten…………..260
wheat free……………..260
gluten free diet………140
gluten free bread……110
food gluten……………..110
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 majority 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.
References
Ref 1 http://www.euromonitor.com/Global_Market_for_Food_Intolerance_Products_At_War_With_Our_Food?print=true
Ref 2 cye.freehostia.com/.../Travel_Guide_Coeliac_Youth_of_Europe.pdf
Ref 3 http://www.celiac.com/articles/21485/1/France-sans-Pain-How-to-Travel-Gluten-Free-in-France/Page1.html
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