Gluten-Free Pizza Added To Schwan's Lineup
By Alec Italiano, contributing writer
For those on restricted diets, the company famous for its frozen grocery delivery service is now offering Freschetta’s Thin and Crispy pizza
The Schwan Food Company has recently added a new product to its lineup with sufferers of Celiac disease in mind. The company has put Freschetta’s gluten-free pizza into its assortment of products. Schwan’s will feature the product in two flavors: Four Cheese Medley and Signature Pepperoni. These pizzas add to a growing number of products that are offering solace to consumers who are eliminating gluten from their diets for various reasons.
“When it comes to pizza, sacrificing gluten should not mean that you have to sacrifice taste,” says Bob Waldron, president of Schwan’s Consumer Brands. “Our Freschetta Gluten-Free Thin and Crispy Crust Pizzas meet the dietary needs of consumers who are eliminating gluten from their diets.”
Any product that has bread in it, as pizza does, is difficult to produce as a gluten-free food because flour, a key ingredient in bread and a trigger for the effects of Celiac disease, needs to be substituted in some fashion. This is where innovation, such as gluten-free all-purpose flour, fills the gap. However, price is often an obstacle. Gluten-free all-purpose flour retails for about $2.75 per pound in non-bulk orders, compared to $0.48 of conventional all-purpose flour.
Do you know what equipment you need for baking mixes?
Other problems arise when baking gluten-free. Typically, the problem is finding a way to get the bread to rise. This is most likely the reason’s Schwan’s latest gluten-free offering is marketed as “Thin and Crispy.” Regardless, the new product is offered by Schwan’s at a reasonable $9.99 in the freezer section, only a few dollars higher when comparing that to their Red Baron Pizza lineup.
Gluten-free products are a growing trend in the industry as people without Celiac disease are abiding to the strict diet citing long-term health effects and weight issues as reasons. But for those people to enjoy the comforts of food conventionally requiring flour, companies like Schwan’s, using supply-chain and baking innovations to bring these products to market at a reasonable price, are paving the road.