Pasta's Journey from High Fibre to High Protein and Gluten Free: GMID 2014

Pasta’s Journey from High Fibre to High Protein and Gluten-Free

Opinion | 14 Jan 2014

Simone BarokeContributing Analyst
Changing consumer demands are pushing health and wellness-positioned pasta from the once overwhelmingly popular high fibre track towards a new high protein/low carb and gluten-free trajectory. This is no small feat for a product previously synonymous with carbohydrates and gluten-laden wheat, and it seems that the future of healthy pasta belongs to products which are high in protein as well as gluten-free.

Hard times for pasta

With a total volume CAGR of 2% over the 2008-2013 review period, the global pasta market is not exactly the poster child of dynamism. In many core markets, the situation is even less enchanting. In Italy, total volumes declined by 11% over the review period, while in Western Europe overall they remained completely stagnant. North America and Australasia only achieved marginal CAGRs of around the 1% mark.
Similar to what is happening in bread, pasta, by virtue of being a carbohydrate staple, is suffering from consumers eschewing carbohydrates, primarily in pursuit of weight management objectives. We have observed this trend at least once before, most notably at the height of the Atkins diet during the late 1990s/early 2000s. In addition, wheat and gluten avoidance is currently all the rage, which is not helping pasta sales either.

High protein on the verge of usurping high fibre

Until very recently, high fibre was the dominant trend in grain-based products, and one of the top trends in the health and wellness market overall. Our data show that, globally, naturally healthy high fibre food accounts for 16% of overall food positioned as naturally healthy (NH) in 2013. And while high fibre products remain popular, our figures confirm that high fibre is gradually losing traction as a USP. In the US, the most dynamic market during the high fibre boom, NH high fibre pasta value sales soared by 22% in 2010 on the previous year. In 2012, the growth rate halved while in 2013 it is set to barely reach 2%.
Observers of the health and wellness market will be well aware that the high protein trend is just about the hottest thing going at the moment. It all started in yoghurt, Greek yoghurt to be exact, but is now spreading like wildfire across virtually all categories, penetrating even those which previously had no link at all with protein. Pasta, always a carbohydrate staple and which has never been appreciated for its (naturally rather low) protein content, is a prime example of this.
In July 2013, Global Foods UK launched Dr Zak’s high protein pasta in the UK. The prime target audiences for its products, according to the company, are vegetarians seeking to augment their protein intake and consumers wanting to maintain a low carb diet, including diabetics.
In Australia, Rinoldi Pasta, the country’s sixth-ranking pasta maker, introduced the first offerings of its Vetta Smart Pasta range in December 2013, including High Protein Low Carb Penne, with further additions to the line-up planned by February 2014. There are two types - High Protein Low Carb and Cholesterol Lowering, the latter containing beta glucan derived from oat fibre.
Back in 2005, Italian-based Barilla, maker of the world’s leading eponymous pasta brand with a 25% value share of the US pasta market, introduced Barilla Plus, a multigrain pasta with added fibre and omega-3. Of late, however, the pasta titan has been making a rather big deal out of the fact that its product “delivers 27% more protein than Barilla’s traditional semolina pasta”. The company cites chickpeas, lentils and egg whites as the source. Barilla is keen to emphasise that these ingredients “are found in the Mediterranean diet and are considered heart-healthy choices” in order not to detract from the ‘naturalness’ and authenticity of the product.

Gluten-free enjoys rampant growth

While high protein is significantly taking off, our data show that the highest growth rates achieved by far in health and wellness-positioned pasta over the 2008-2013 review period came from gluten-free. On a global level, gluten-free pasta sales have rocketed by 74% over the past five years, and in the US by 88%. In the US, the trend is showing no signs of fading. In 2013, the category is anticipated growth of 15% compared to 11% the previous year.
There is certainly plenty of launch activity, notably from large mainstream players – a distinct change from the past era, when gluten-free was the domain of small specialist companies. Barilla launched a gluten-free dried pasta line in select stores in the US in September, with a national rollout expected in 2014. In the UK, Heinz introduced a new range of gluten-free pasta in November 2013, including 500g bags of penne, macaroni and spaghetti, accompanied by Tetra Paks of gluten-free tomato-based sauces.
Gluten-free pasta has excellent prospects over the medium to long term. On a global level, it is expected to achieve growth of 21% over the 2013-2018 forecast period, which is in line with the growth rate expected for these products in the US and the UK. The top five most buoyant growth markets are predicted to be Israel, with a 131% value sales increase, followed by Bulgaria (118%), Chile (75%), Finland (69%) and Venezuela (54%). Australia and Ireland are also forecast to deliver fairly dynamic performances of around the 40% mark.
A number of promising NPD efforts centring on today’s consumer demands for high protein pasta products which are at the same time gluten-free are afoot. For example, in March 2013, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore, India, reported in the LWT Food Science and Technology journal that it had developed a protein-rich, gluten-free pasta using high protein ingredients such as soy, chickpea and sorghum flours, and also whey protein concentrate.
Admittedly, India’s pasta market is still very much in its infancy, with retail value sales amounting to just US$6.2 million in 2013. However, this is more than double sales in 2008, demonstrating formidable dynamism. India’s urban middle-classes have similar health preoccupations to their counterparts elsewhere on the globe, and so high protein, low carb products are destined to find due resonance, particularly among consumers concerned about weight management, diabetes and heart health.
For further insight, please contact Ewa Hudson, Global Head of Health and Wellness Research at Euromonitor International, at ewa.hudson@euromonitor.com.