Heinz is set to shake up the fast-growing free-from market with the launch of gluten-free pasta and pasta sauces.

Next month, it will join Warburtons - which launched gluten-free bread in 2010 - as one of the few A-list fmcg players in free-from.

Its new Deliciously Gluten Free range marks the first time the company, which was acquired by a US consortium for $23bn last week, has launched Heinz-branded gluten-free pasta range anywhere.

The range comprises three dried pastas - penne, macaroni and spaghetti and three sauces - tomato frito, tomato & basil and tomato & oregano.

The pastas are made from corn, potato and lupin flour at a Heinz plant in Italy. At £1.80 for 500g, they will be pricier than the £1.40 average for own-label gluten-free pasta at the big four, but lower than Dove’s Farm, which sells for around £2 [BrandView.com].

The pasta sauces will be sold in 210g cartons (rsp: 89p) - a relatively small pack size that Heinz said was better suited to families where typically only one or two members would be following a gluten-free diet.

While only 1% of the population is thought to have coeliac disease, many people are reducing wheat and gluten consumption.

Heinz is also hoping to capitalise on its big brand status, claiming shoppers were often reluctant to try gluten-free products as they tended to be made by relatively unknown brands.

The huge difference in per capita spend between the US and the UK - at $24 (£15.66) per head in the US compared with £2.30 here - showed how much potential the category had, it added.

The gluten-free category is worth £140m in UK grocery and growing 23% a year [Kantar Worldpanel data to October 2012]. The Heinz launch will be supported by marketing activity with charity Coeliac UK.

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