Gluten free cafe and shop

[Victoria jonez]

Hi my 15 year old son was diagnosed type 1 diabetic with celiac disease at 14 month of age and we struggle finding places to eat and products to buy and because of this reason would like to open a cafe and shop in Tamworth Staffordshire the sells only gluten free products and cooks only gluten free food and I would to know if I can get funding for this and also we would like recommendations for gluten free products people enjoy and recipes people have tried and loved look forward to hearing from you 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Victoria!

If you are in or near a large metro area with a significant potential customer base and worked up a convincing business plan it is conceivable that banks would be open to extending you a loan to start up this business. I'm not in the UK so I don't know if there are government subsidies for such startups or not. 

Concerning recipes, there is a whole section in this forum for that. Just do a search for specific dishes like "gluten free apple pie" or whatever. 

Concerning eateries, most of us avoid eating out as much as possible because studies show it is the number one underminer of gluten free diets.

When you ask about trouble finding products to buy are you speaking of gluten-free ready made processed foods or gluten free raw ingredients to use in your own cooking? 

Edited September 26, 2022 by trents

[Scott Adams]

I'm not sure how popular Kickstarter is in the UK, but in the USA I've seen several gluten-free companies use them to get startup capital for their businesses:

https://www.kickstarter.com/

[Victoria jonez]

On 9/26/2022 at 7:41 PM, Scott Adams said:

I'm not sure how popular Kickstarter is in the UK, but in the USA I've seen several gluten-free companies use them to get startup capital for their businesses:

https://www.kickstarter.com/

Thank you I really appreciate your help I'll let you know how I get on 😊

[Scott Adams]

Good luck!

[Nikki2777]

I think it's a terrific idea - 

I don't know how many people with Celiac avoid restaurants altogether, but I certainly don't. I'm lucky enough to live in a major metropolitan area with a number of dedicated Gluten Free restaurants and cafes or those that 'know how to do gluten-free right'. In those, I still tell them I have Celiac and mention the risk of cross-contamination. I eat out often (too often!) at places I trust.

In my experience - the places that have a chance at success are those that just 'happen' to be 100% gluten free. You want to have delicious, fresh food that everyone - people who avoid gluten and those that don't - will want to eat. The market anywhere is too small to succeed on just those with Celiac. You also want families to have a place they can repeatedly go to together. I would also aim for a relatively low price point for the same reason. If you're trying a cafe, the price thing shouldn't be difficult. Maybe also have a rotating menu of two or three grab and go entrees that people can take out and heat up as well - it would be a convenience for those who don't have time to cook fresh gluten free meals every day.

Then, get the word out to the Celiac/gluten-free community any way you can. Here in the US, we use Find Me Gluten Free religiously when on road trips. I think (though I can't be sure) that I used it on a recent trip to Scotland, too. I also. came on here for recommendations and scoured websites.

Good luck - hope to find your cafe on our next trip to the UK.