I recently did the bread and milk run for my wife, and I was shocked at how expensive gluten free bread is compared to normal bread.

I got to thinking, did a quick Google search of gluten free breads and discovered that there isn’t a mainline bakery making gluten free bread.

All of the bakeries are small, artisan shops, and the prices of gluten free bread reflect that: about twice the price of regular bread.

Several years ago, after Bimbo Bakeries which is owned in Mexico bought Oroweat, our favorite bread company and then took it off the market, since it was a slow month in consulting, I called and asked them why. I got a rather nonresponsive answer (the customer service person didn’t know and wouldn’t look into it) and Bimbo eventually reestablished distriubtion, so all is well.

Bimbo, here’s another opportunity: introduce a gluten free bread in larger sizes. I don’t know how big the gluten free market is, but my hunch is that it’s 10-15% of the total bread market. Other gluten free products are selling well, IMHO, so why not introduce a gluten free bread?

We’ll do the focus group for Bimbo for a great rate: not free, but certainly reasonable. In fact, I’ll call a couple of research houses I know (having done focus group work for them) and ask them. One never knows.

In the meantime, I might talk to my alma mater, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and see if they want to look into gluten free bread. Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon to have Wharton rented out to consumer marketeers doing studies; I participated in a few myself.