It’s over 40 years since Helen Dean first baked her melt in the mouth shortbread in her Huntly kitchen to raise funds for the local pipe band. Dean’s has since grown to become a household name across Scotland, employing around 130 people and exporting their products to 28 countries across the world.
The new range, which is certified by Coeliac UK, contains three varieties – all butter, choc chip and choc chip & stem ginger and will appeal not only to coeliac sufferers, but also the growing number of consumers who choose to follow a wheat and gluten free diet.
Managing Director, Bill Dean said: “We’ve been asked by customers many times over recent years to develop gluten free shortbread products. We’ve spent a considerable time working on these recipes in order to create the same delicious buttery taste and melt in the mouth texture consumers have come to expect from Dean’s. We’re very happy that consumers who follow a gluten free diet will now be able to enjoy Dean’s shortbread’’
One in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease, an autoimmune disease caused by a reaction to gluten with an estimated half a million people currently undiagnosed.
Sarah Sleet, Chief Executive of Coeliac UK, the national charity for people with coeliac disease, said: “Being able to purchase new gluten-free products is a top priority for people with coeliac disease, who must follow a strict gluten-free diet for life. It’s fantastic that an established brand such as Dean’s is now able to offer their core product to people with coeliac disease in their new range of shortbread certified gluten-free by Coeliac UK enabling them to use the Crossed Grain symbol on packaging.”
• Available online (www.deans.co.uk) and in Dean’s gift shop as well as selected retailers, the gluten free range RRP is £2.79 (150g pack).
