April 18, 2011

Imagine a Shop Where EVERYTHING was Gluten Free – Ecodirect

I know that half the battle of living food allergy free (for me at least) is going into shops where the shelves are stocked with countless beautiful, tasty looking products which are filled with my problem food allergens. This, highlighted with the power of marketing and package design, can make your weekly shopping experience extra hard, as if it wasn’t hard enough to begin with! One defence is to never go shopping when hungry (I tend to save money that way too!). The other would be to shop in a shop where everything that was sold was food allergy friendly. This probably seems like a mere pipe dream for anyone with allergies but I promise you it’s not!

The first and only shop to sell only gluten free products is a reality: Ecodirect is a Dublin based walk-in & online shop which serves all of Ireland. It’s a brilliant idea and if you happen to be gluten free then lucky you (bet you don’t hear that very often) because Ecodirect will have most if not all of what you are looking for from beer to breads and treats to tonics. They pride themselves on their wide range of gluten free and wheat free breads with brands such as:

- Bezgluten
- Bakery on Main
- Arkat
- Genius
- Lovemore
- Livewell
- Beiker
- Organ
- Dietary Specials
- Gluten Free Foodies
- Whole Earth
- Biona
- La Veneziane

For a next-day delivery of fresh bread call 01 620 5053.

One of the things that I really appreciate about Ecodirect is that they ‘do not stock products containing Spelt, Kamut, etc.’ because if you need to follow a strict gluten free diet then you are probably familiar with the disheartening feeling of seemingly ‘gluten free’ products which contain these ancient forms of wheat. That is not to demerit these grains in any way of course, but it should be recognized that not all gluten free and wheat free diets can tolerate even these ancient forms.
Note for multiple allergy sufferers: The other hugely brilliant thing about Ecodirect is that most of their products list all of the ingredients online – nirvana indeed! So it is very possible to browse the virtual shelves at home and only buy what you can actually eat!

With all good of course comes some bad and the damage is that delivery from this Gluten Free Paradise to your doorstep requires a minimum order of €30 with an additional delivery charge of €5.99 – c’est la vie, as they say… but really it’s not so bad when you think of all the gluten free and wheat free products there are to choose from with categories of:

- Beer, Ale, Pilsner, Cider, Larger (2 options)
- Biscuits & Cookies (13 options)
- Breads (19 options!)
- Cakes & Buns (10 options)
- Cereals, etc (34 options!)
- Confectionary (7 options)
- Crackers (10 options)
- Delicatessen
- Dessert (9 options)
- Drinks (4 options)
- Flour & Mixes (16 options)
- Ingredients (24 options)
- Pasta & Noodles (26 options!)
- Pastry (1 option)
- Pizza (4 options)
- Ready Meals (13 options)
- Sauces & Dips (17 options)
- Snacks & Crisps (20 options)
- Soups (13 options)
- Spreads (2 options)
- Supplements & Tonics (4 options)


Ecodirect Ltd
56 Park West Enterprise Centre
Lavery Avenue
Dublin 12
Tel: 01 620 5053
Web: www.ecodirect.ie
Online shop: www.ecodirect.ie/catalog
Opening Times of Walk-in Shop: mon – fri 09:00-14:30; Note: closed sun, sat & public holidays

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