Sainsbury’s has apologised to customers after soaring demand for gluten-free pizza left stores short.

A spokesman said sales of its Freefrom frozen Margherita pizzas, launched in November last year, were 36% ahead of anticipated demand. A two-week delay was likely before stock was replenished.

Mintel analyst Chris Brockman said the boom in gluten-free products showed no signs of abating, with sales increasing 30.1% since 2010. However, gluten-free pizza npd lagged the category. “In the last three years less than 1% (0.8%) of all pizzas launched in UK retail has been gluten-free compared with 7% of all new bakery launches.”“There has been a lot of activity in pizza bases, but it is taking a while to catch up,” he said.

This week US brand Amy’s Kitchen launched a premium gluten-free rice crust cheese pizza at the Natural Food Show in London.

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