Useful Resources: GlutenFreePassport.com

There is so much information out there on the web these days! Here is some interesting stuff from glutenfreepassport.com - they conducted a world-wide survey of consumers and restaurant folks about special diets. Over 2700 gluten free/allergen free consumers (along with 200 representatives from over 2,000 restaurants) from 35 countries were involved. If you are not familiar with GlutenFreePassport, their mission is to enrich gluten and allergen-free lifestyles world-wide. In order to accomplish their mission they intend to empower consumers on how to eat out safely and educate restaurants to recognize and expand their offerings to more adequately service allergy customers. They offer a line of books for sale about eating out and traveling on their Web site.

Back to the market research they conducted, the findings fit into the following 6 categories.
* Top priorities for future advancement
* Guests as a profitable and loyal market
* Eating out and traveling trends
* Taste is top consideration
* Tremendous gap in perspectives of understanding special diets
* Quality of life impacts

You can read the executive summary of the research here for free.

Some interesting things of note...
-62% of the hospitality and food service respondents consider gluten & allergen-free guests as a new and profitable consumer segment translating into potential increased revenue streams for food service providers.
-In addition, once gluten & allergen-free guests feel safe and satisfied with their eating experience, they return to the same establishments over 80% of the time, reflecting an extremely loyal and repeat customer base!
-Guests with allergies dine out 80% less than they used to before diagnosis.
-90% of gluten and allergen-free customers rank taste as their top priority above nutrition, convenience and even price.
-Consumers believe less than 10% of eating establishments have a ‘very good’ or ‘good’ understanding of gluten and allergen-free diets. However, hospitality and food service believe that up to 40% of establishments understand these requirements.
-77% of respondents noted that being gluten free impacted their social lives in a negative way. Similarly, 73% of respondents noted eating out as being negatively impacted.

Interesting Stuff - any thoughts to add?