Why gluten free? “It’s not in relation to any personal allergies or intolerances” said Michael Horrocks, owner of Lifestyle Bakery, one of Australia’s largest manufacturers of Gluten Free Breads
“Right back at the beginning, I had a staff member whose mother was Coeliac, we made products for her, and I saw an opportunity that no one else was exploring”
Twenty plus years in the making, Michael Horrocks describes Lifestyle Bakery as a pioneer of Gluten Free, with the overall goal of getting products to the same standard and value as non-gluten free
Experiencing an average of 20 per cent growth every year off the back of high volumes of customer demand, Lifestyle Bakery, who manufacture through their site at Pooraka, supplies considerable quantities of its product to every major supermarket in the nation.
“It’s all about effort and strategy” said Michael, who keeps his workforce busy across 3 shifts.
“We recognise the demand for Gluten Free products isn’t going away. Our research tells us only a small percentage of consumers of Gluten Free are in fact coeliac and the vast majority are making purchasing choices based on diet and lifestyle choices.”
As a manufacturer in the food industry, Michael has not been subject to any of the severe restrictions or lockdowns most of us have felt during the last 18 months. Customer demand increased during this time, particularly during restrictions and lockdowns.
Closed international borders have resulted in the same problems for Michael as they have for many other manufacturing businesses, reporting that no increase in demand can strike out issues in supply chains, or sourcing skilled labour; issues that have been identified in the results of the last three quarters of ‘Business Now’, the South Australian Business Chamber — William Buck Survey of Business Expectations.
“We’ve had to adapt,” said Michael. “We’ve all been challenged through COVID, and we have had to work with our entire supply chain to ensure we’re ordering and storing enough product and providing long enough lead times on orders to provide minimum disruption to our production.”
Lifestyle Bakery’s experiences are not dissimilar from many manufacturers during the June quarter. “Trade has been strong, but we haven’t seen the excessive demand like we did during the same period last year which was largely locked down,” said Mr Horrocks. “We’ve used the last few months to trial some new products which has been very exciting”.
With 20 popular products already under his belt, Michael believes he is entering a new era of Gluten Free Bread, with a fresh product launching soon being labelled a ‘game changer’ within the industry.
“We’ll be trialling something completely different from anything we’ve done, and I have every confidence that it will be a success,” said Mr Horrocks.
The future certainly does looks bright for Lifestyle bakery. With the appetite for bread and baked goods far from subsiding, the only way for Michael Horrocks to go is up.
