Food for People with Food Allergies in Pinehurst Area - Need Opinions Pls. (Charlotte: sales, crime)

[chanisco]

Hi All!
My husband and I plan to move with our 2 young sons to the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area soon. We just visited during the summer and enjoyed our time there - especially driving around the more rural areas.

My husband, sons and I have celiac sprue, which is basically an autoimmune reaction to gluten - the protein in wheat, barley, rye and sometimes oats. We are all on a gluten free diet and my sons are also dairy/casein free.

My husband and I are hoping to open a gluten free bakery once we move. (I currently own a food business here in NH.) We had a really hard time eating down there, and we feel that this would help a lot of people - residents and tourists. We'd not only offer gluten free baked goods, but dairy free, soy free, egg free, etc. foods that taste great. We'd also like to start a support group in the area, and perhaps offer cooking classes for the newly diagnosed.

Food allergies are very common, and celiac itself affects over 1 out 100 people in the US, yet 95% are currently undiagnosed. Gluten intolerance is said by some doctors to affect as many as 1 out of 3 Americans. The doctors are starting to realize how common celiac is and people are getting diagnosed more now.

I'd love to hear your opinions. Do you know anyone in your area with celiac or food allergies? Is this something that is needed in your community?

Thanks for your time!
Christine

[BxRosie]

Originally Posted by chanisco

Hi All!
My husband and I plan to move with our 2 young sons to the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area soon. We just visited during the summer and enjoyed our time there - especially driving around the more rural areas.

My husband, sons and I have celiac sprue, which is basically an autoimmune reaction to gluten - the protein in wheat, barley, rye and sometimes oats. We are all on a gluten free diet and my sons are also dairy/casein free.

My husband and I are hoping to open a gluten free bakery once we move. (I currently own a food business here in NH.) We had a really hard time eating down there, and we feel that this would help a lot of people - residents and tourists. We'd not only offer gluten free baked goods, but dairy free, soy free, egg free, etc. foods that taste great. We'd also like to start a support group in the area, and perhaps offer cooking classes for the newly diagnosed.

Food allergies are very common, and celiac itself affects over 1 out 100 people in the US, yet 95% are currently undiagnosed. Gluten intolerance is said by some doctors to affect as many as 1 out of 3 Americans. The doctors are starting to realize how common celiac is and people are getting diagnosed more now.

I'd love to hear your opinions. Do you know anyone in your area with celiac or food allergies? Is this something that is needed in your community?

Thanks for your time!
Christine

Hi Christine,

I think it's a wonderful idea. There are so many people out there with food allergies & dietary issues & not enough choices for them in the supermarkets.

Have you ever heard of "Wildtree" It is a direct sales company that offers all-natural products that are preservative, additive, dye & MSG free that are easy to use & delicious. We use them all the time because of medical issues. Feel free to DM me if you'd like more info.

BxRosie

[groove1]

I work with a few people with gluten sensitivity. I work pt at Earth Fare in Charlotte, a natural foods store based in Asheville, that offers many gluten free products.

[chanisco]

Good to know, guys. Thanks so much!

[Jake Ryan]

I know a few people with Celiac Disease and you're right, I am seing more and more people with the disease here lately. That being said, I'm not sure a Gluten Free bakery in Pinehurst will have enough business to sustain itself. I would say that it's a great idea if you were going to have non-gluten free items in the bakery also, but that is impossible because of segregation issues. How would you compete with the direct internet sales, and larger grocery stores that are now starting to carry gluten free items? Earthfare, Harris Teeter, and Whole Foods are some stores that are carrying gluten free.

[groove1]

Yes, and I don't know about Pinehurst, but we have some good smaller stores in Carlote like Home Economist Market and Talley's Green Grocery that sell gluten free items.

[chanisco]

Thanks for your input everyone. I really appreciate it!

Well, we would possibly sell online and ship besides having just a store. Also, although the GF foods in the supermarkets are okay, we would be making things like fresh bread, baguettes, French and Italian bread, pizza crusts, pie crusts, soft pretzels, biscuits, cupcakes, decorated birthday cakes, etc. We even plan to try to make gluten free raviolis. (I haven't had ravioli in almost 4 years!!) Those are things that we cannot currently find at supermarkets. Whole Foods has some items, but not a lot. (There isn't a Whole Food around Pinehurst anyway from what I have read. I think the closest is Raleigh and Charlotte??)

Thanks again for your input. I'd love to hear more.
Chris

[groove1]

No Whole Foods in Charlott yet, but a couple of Earth Fare's.

[chanisco]

Thanks everyone. Now I'm wondering if we should settle closer to Charlotte. The main reason we chose the Pinehurst area was because the crime is fairly low, the schools seem decent, and my husband and sons enjoy drag racing - so we wanted to be fairly close to a 1/4 mile drag strip. Now we understand that there may be one in Charlotte soon, so we may be able to go more in that direction, provided that we can find a safe place with decent schools. We also prefer living in the country more than the 'burbs or city, so I don't know what is available over that way. We did stay at a B&B in Gold Hill (about 30 mins from Charlotte I think) for a spell and liked it.
I guess we have a lot to think about! Thanks again!

[MAtoNC!]

My daughter has celiac and we are always looking for new GF foods. We are near Raleigh.

I don't think a lot the GF stuff is very good, like Whole Foods GFbakery.

We got GF pies from Hippie Chick Bakery in Amesbury, MA before we moved. Those were good!