Mother’s Pizza Fare Seeks Slice of Gluten-Free Pie

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Mother’s Pizza Fare Seeks Slice of Gluten-Free Pie
Healthy: Caulipower’s Gail Becker with product at Whole Foods in Tarzana.

Gail Becker used to find herself coming up short on searches for healthy gluten-free foods for her two sons, both of whom have celiac disease.

That led the then-public relations executive to cook up her own gluten-free dishes, eventually leading Becker to quit her PR career and start food company Caulipower in February.

“My two boys are the reasons why I started the company,” she said. “They are both on a gluten-free diet, and after trying out a home-made cauliflower-based pizza crust, I couldn’t find anything similar to purchase afterwards, and that’s where I saw a gap in the market.”

The maker of frozen cauliflower-based pizza crusts and pizzas, which Becker runs out of her Laurel Canyon home, is set to expand its distribution nationally this month to more than 1,000 stores across the nation. The company’s products, already in some Whole Foods Market Inc. and Bristol Farms Inc. locations, are heading to health food stores and supermarkets including Mom’s Organic Market, Gelson’s, Acme, Safeway and Vons.

The expansion comes after the global gluten-free market grew from $1.7 billion in 2011 to $3.5 billion last year and is forecast to grow to $4.7 billion in 2020, according to London-based consumer market research firm Euromonitor.

That increase has largely stemmed from an overall trend of consumers seeking healthier food options, but for Becker’s sons ages 14 and 19, it was especially important.

Both were diagnosed 11 years ago with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes the body’s immune system to attack and damage the small intestine when gluten is present. Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, rye, flour and malt, among other foods.

Becker launched her company with a distribution deal that included 30 Whole Foods and Bristol Farms stores in the Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada markets, which was followed by sales on Amazon.com.

Caulipower has seen a 10-fold increase in production lately, increasing to 90,000 pizzas a month from 9,000 four months ago, Becker said. She wouldn’t provide revenue numbers, but the pizzas retail for $7.99.

Cauliflower calling

It all started for Becker when she saw a cauliflower pizza recipe on Pinterest a few years ago. Her sons loved it but it would take her 90 minutes to bake, time she didn’t have. She looked to purchase it online and in supermarkets but couldn’t find anything similar.

“There were more than 500,000 recipes for this online, but no one was selling it,” she said.

Starting Caulipower became a reality after she received an inheritance from her father, who passed away a year and a half ago.

“I suppose I could have just bought a house, but I wanted to do something meaningful instead,” said Becker, who wouldn’t say how much she inherited.

Becker left her 16-year career at the L.A. office of Chicago-based PR firm Edelman, where she was president of strategic partnerships and global integration, in spring of last year. She said she had been frustrated with a lack of tasty and healthy gluten-free foods for a number of years, and with better financial means, she embarked on launching Caulipower.

She did her market research then met with Whole Foods last fall to ink a distribution deal.

“Caulipower is a local company to Whole Foods Market’s Southern Pacific region and is produced in our backyard,” Elena Garcia, regional grocery buyer at Whole Foods, said via email. “We fell in love with the taste, texture, and the fact that half the pizza is 310 calories! The concept is totally on market trend and we felt that it would translate to our customers, which it has.”

Becker uses a sales team in Dallas – a turn that came about based on business connections forged over the years – and distribution and co-packing facilities in Chicago, in addition to the Laurel Canyon operation. She declined to comment on distribution partners, but said Chicago made sense because it is centrally located and cost-effective for shipping and delivery across the country.

Becker said that she is in talks with several investors due to Caulipower’s growth.

“We’re planning to double our presence to 2,000 stores by August,” she said. “It doesn’t look like we’ll be slowing down anytime soon.”

Gluten-free growth

The company’s expansion comes as demand for gluten-free foods is on the rise.

A 2016 study from the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, N.J., says that among a sampling of 22,278 Americans studied from 2009 to 2014, the percentage of those on a gluten-free diet grew from 0.5 percent to 1.69 percent, while the percentage of those diagnosed with celiac disease stayed steady at about 0.7 percent.

“The rise of the gluten-free movement came about four years ago with people who were more health-conscious adopting the diet thinking it was healthier,” said Ilana Muhlstein, a registered dietician with a private practice in Beverly Hills.

That has drawn the attention of other food makers as well.

Monrovia-based Trader Joe’s launched a line of frozen cauliflower-based pizza crusts last month, retailing for $3.99.

Cauliflower is healthy because it’s a vegetable, she said, and it’s versatile for cooking because it has a neutral taste.

“Cauliflower … is a magic vegetable and is here to stay,” Muhlstein said.

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