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Back in 2004, while visiting Italy for the World Pizza Championships, I made an unexpected discovery. During the closing ceremonies, attendees were treated to some of the world's best pizza from all of the categories of competition. I was sitting at our table and turned around to talk to the girl behind me. I asked where she was from and she said she drove about five hours to get there. "Really!?" I asked. "You like pizza enough to drive five hours?" She laughed and said that in fact she did because she couldn't eat pizza…normally. Well now she had my attention. She went on to explain that she had a disease known as Celiac disease, which makes her gluten intolerant. Because the competition had a gluten-free category, this was the only time of the year she could really enjoy a hot, delicious pizza. I was intrigued. I went home and did some research.
I realized that celiac sufferers, in some cases, had never had the opportunity to enjoy pizza the way we do, and that by not offering a gluten-free pizza, pizza shop owners in the U.S. were in essence saying, "There are 1,174,621 potential customers out there we don't want or care about." In Australia and New Zealand they were saying, "There are 94,335 potential customers out there we don't want or care about." I did some research and assigned an article that was titled Pizza Without the Bread?! (www.pmq.com.au/mag/2005july/glutenfree.html). In 2005, while traveling throughout Australia and New Zealand interviewing pizza shop owners, I noticed a small portion of them who offered gluten-free pizzas, but it was in September of 2006, when I noticed an emerging trend. Nearly 1/3 of all the pizza shops I visited offered a gluten-free base option. After talking with several gluten-free companies and operators, I also realized that by offering a gluten-free option, you not only attract the celiac community, you attract their friends and family. One operator I spoke with named Rocco Sorelle from the Sunshine Coast has even taken it a step further and now makes, distributes and sells gluten-free pastas, pizzas and bases from his restaurant with good results.
The restaurant is called Rocco's Italia in Mudjimba on the Sunshine Coast. Nearly four years ago, Rocco went overseas and came back home and opened up a restaurant. "A lot of the pizza chains only care about money in their pocket," Rocco explained as we talked and sampled his products. "If they don't see the proper market or profit margins, they don't add it. Because many never look at the additional friends and family who dine out with celiacs and how offering a special item like gluten-free pulls more than just the celiac, they are missing out on a huge opportunity. I did this not just for money, but because I saw a need and a lot of people who don't get the chance to enjoy a great pizza or pasta."
ABOUT ROCCO'S ITALIA
"People can walk out of our restaurant for under $20 each," Rocco explained. "And right now, 25 percent of our clientele are gluten-free customers. Out of the 350 pizzas we sell a week, about 50 to 75 are gluten-free pizzas and they are sold at a premium price over normal pizzas. There is not only a need to provide for the gluten-free dietary needs of those who are celiac, but also to provide for their families. Diabetics benefit from gluten-free products too, and so do people with Down Syndrome and those with IBS. It is also a great sports fuel because it is high in protein and carbohydrates, which are a result of the rice flour and eggs. It does qualify as vegetarian, but not as a vegan product."
THE GLUTEN-FREE CATALYST
Creating a gluten-free line of products was not just some idea Rocco just decided to do. It started when a lady came in one day and asked him to cook her gluten-free pasta that she brought in with her and add his sauce. "I cooked it for 20 minutes and it fell apart," Rocco said. "I apologized because it was mush, but she said it was OK because that is what happens. Being of Italian descent, I don't like to see people eating bad food so I spent a lot of time developing a good gluten-free pasta that held together and tasted good and started selling it in the store, packaging it and distributing in Australia."
The next step was to develop a pizza base, which took Rocco a lot of time. There was a lot of trial and error in creating these pastas and bases and now his gluten-free pizzas outsell his pasta three to one. "Right now I am producing about 1,000 per week to sell outside my shop and we can double production if needed," Rocco says. "Right now we are doing about 1/10 of what we are actually capable of producing, so we are able to produce around 1000 per day. It is only right now starting to take off…our growth rate right now is 117% a month. As far as I know, we are the only ones making fresh gluten-free pasta, but there are a couple of others making the bases. Each pizza base is individually sealed and the pasta is gas modified (vacuum sealed). The bases can be stored for two weeks on the shelf and six weeks in the refrigerator and can last eight months in the freezer. It is no problem to pull one straight from the freezer, go to the pizza tray, top and then into the oven and because they are pre-cooked, it is just a matter of topping it and cooking. There is only one size pizza base offered, which is a nine-inch base. We do pizza bases, spaghetti, and fettuccini and have just released a lasagna meal. I am selling mainly to health food stores and just recently started selling to the hospitality industry. Now PFD is going to be distributing nationally in Australia."
WHY OFFER GLUTEN-FREE
When considering whether or not to offer gluten-free pizza or pasta, consider this; it isn't just the gluten intolerant person you are bringing in, it is all of their friends and family. Most go out with groups and the group usually agrees to go to a place where the celiac can dine, so now you have the celiac's business and their group of friends or family coming to you. Also, celiacs tend to be like vegans in that once one member of the group finds a place with something to offer, word travels fast in the circle. There have been several stories in local papers about Rocco's products and his restaurant offering gluten-free products and he even earned a write up in a magazine specifically for celiacs, which resulted in them holding one of their meetings in the hotel beside his restaurant.
"When they (the celiac group) held their convention here, we were slammed," one of Rocco's employees said. "There were 70 or 80 people crammed in here ordering food. Not only did they eat here, they bought all of our bases and pastas we had in the display cases…we sold out of nearly everything."
"My message bank at home is just full of testimonies," Rocco said. "One lady is almost crying saying how it has saved her from a life of tasteless food. A lot of gluten-free products are tasteless and bland and that is why we added garlic and parsley to the taste and cottage cheese for the moisture. People will come into our restaurant and say that they haven't had a pizza in 10 years…they are just over the moon knowing that they can finally go out and have a gluten-free pizza. They can use the pizza bases to make garlic bread, croutons, and as bread for sandwiches…just about anything.
"I not only sell to health food stores and PFD, but I sell direct to guys like Tomato Brothers pizza too," Rocco continued. "On a standing order, they get about 24 bases a week and they charge a premium price for the gluten-free base. You can add this price on top of the normal price for pizza because people with a gluten intolerance know that it will be more expensive and that they'll have to pay more for it, but they can eat something like pizza and pasta now."
CONCLUSION
Yes, there are only 94,335 celiac sufferers in Australia and New Zealand, but the customer base extends beyond that number. The celiac dines out with friends, knows other celiacs and has family. There are those who are in to the health kick and looking for alternatives, those who have Down Syndrome and IBS…. a lot more potential customers than just the 94,335 celiacs. If you would like to learn more about this disorder, visit www.celiac.com/index.html. If someone wanted to find out more about the products Rocco offers, go to www.roccosorelle.com.au or email info@roccosorelle.com.au or contact PFD.