Ground Report

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Name: Christelle Coulin.
Age: 35.
Nationality: French.
Studies: BA in Interior Design.
Profession: Chef baker at Gluten Free Delices Ltd & Part-time customer service team member for Eurostar International.
Reason for e-terview: Has set up a gluten-free cakes baking company in London.

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J.N. PAQUET – Christelle, could you please introduce yourself a little bit to our readers?

CHRISTELLE COULIN – I have been living in London for 10 years now. I come from Cannes, in the South of France, a city famous for its annual film festival! I had initially in mind to come to London for a year or so, but I liked the city so much that I eventually decided to stay longer! I liked the opportunities that this city offers! I then started working full-time for Eurostar, in customer service. After a year, I became a part-timer, so that I could study during the week and take a degree in Interior Design at the London Metropolitan University. I must say that, at that time, I was already thinking about setting up a business, renting properties in London.

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JNP – How did you come to the idea of a gluten-free food business?

CC – About two years ago, I wanted to set up a French creperie in the Shoreditch area, North-East London. I distributed questionnaires to passers-by in the streets to check if my idea could shape into a viable business. I was surprised to see that, even though a lot of people answered they liked the French pancakes, many couldn’t actually eat them! The reason was their allergy to Gluten! Completely unaware of that condition, I made some research on the subject and discovered this was a large niche market that still had to be developed. Giving up on the idea of setting up a creperie, I decided to minimise the overall costs and expenditures of renting any premises by setting up a home-based business, baking gluten-free cakes! By nature, I always liked baking cakes, and since my father, now retired, was a pastry-cook himself in France, it was only logical that I somewhat followed his path.

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JNP – One usually assumes that it takes long to create a business, and even longer to actually start selling products. How was it for you? Did you take any advices on how to start a business?

CC – First, I went through some training sessions and seminars in order to get more knowledge about setting up a company. I visited the Business Link website for information. London is a great place to set up businesses. You get a lot of support and help. Organisations are very enthusiastic and really push your entrepreneurial aspirations. I even had the chance to have a mentor to help me out, right at the start. I received a lot of tutorials from HBV enterprises to start and grow a business. I also went to the British Library, very useful because of its Intellectual Property section. Overall, it was extremely helpful because I got to see the different aspects and areas that creating a business involves. Legal, finance, accountancy… I finally registered Gluten Free Delices Ldt in March 2010. Since that, I have only really been selling cakes for about 7 months. The whole process of setting up my business was long because I was on my own and had to gather all the necessary information about setting up a business from home. It goes without saying that a food business is also very difficult to establish because it involves a lot of hygiene and safety regulations. And when you specifically deal with the gluten condition, there are other very important rules regarding cross-contamination: even very small amounts of gluten can be harmful to people with coeliac disease!

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JNP – Why selling gluten-free cakes, then?

CC – I wanted to bring to the market a new type of gluten-free products. Conscious of what already existed, I wanted to bring an air of novelty, a more contemporary aspect to the “free from” range. I also wanted to make people understand that these cakes didn’t taste any different from traditional cakes and that, whether or not they are intolerant to gluten, it was in their interest to eat gluten-free products. Usually, people are a bit resilient to try gluten-free foods since they automatically link them to a medical condition. They don’t take into consideration the benefits gluten-free food can bring to them even when they don’t suffer the ailments associated to wheat and flour.

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JNP – What is the big deal with gluten-free food, really? Is it actually such a big deal? Are they so many people with such allergies in the UK?

CC – Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease. Gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye, triggers an immune reaction in people with Coeliac disease. This means that eating gluten damages the lining of the small intestine. Other parts of the body may also be affected. It is thought that 1 in 100 people, in the UK, have Coeliac disease, but a lot of people are not actually diagnosed.

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JNP – So, there is indeed a market for gluten-free food?

CC – In my researches, I have noticed that there are many suppliers of new gluten-free products. The gluten-free market is growing. More people are diagnosed with Coeliac disease and Dermatitis herpetiformis (the related skin condition), and so, demand for quality foods and services is increasing. There are also invaluable sources of support available nowadays, with events to help raise awareness of Coeliac disease.

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JNP – What is the difference of taste between your products and the same products that contain gluten?

CC – My products don’t contain any processed flour. I use substitutes instead, such as gluten-free flour, rice flour, corn flour and grounded almonds. The cakes are very light and consequently less heavy on one’s stomach. They also appear more crumbly. Their taste may be different to other cakes because I use neither additives, nor preservatives. I only use fresh ingredients, free range eggs and other high quality products. I am also very careful with the amount of sugar I use in my cakes!

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JNP – Have you had any bad feedback from customers yet?

CC – I must admit that I have been lucky so far. I have had many customers who were not intolerant or allergic to gluten and who told me that, even though my cakes were gluten-free, they surprisingly tasted good! My customers are usually happy to eat a product that is freshly baked, and with no additives. The main thing with my cakes is that I have to educate people on the benefits of eating gluten-free cakes, and eating a gluten-free diet in general. People automatically assume that gluten-free products have a blend taste and no flavour. Unfortunately, people assume that there may be something lacking in there and that these types of products can only be linked to people with a medical condition.

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JNP – What is your focus when baking cakes now? Are you focused on selling to gluten intolerant customers, or just to anyone?

CC – I had initially focused on developing my products for people who were allergic and intolerant to gluten, or suffering from the Coeliac disease. However, after testing my cakes with colleagues at Eurostar, who weren’t allergic to gluten, I realised that I could focus on an even wider market. My products can please anyone who enjoys good food baked in a traditional way and who wants a healthier diet.

[to be continued…]

Read the whole e-terview now, at: www.jnpaquet.com

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