• Wall Street Journal, Thursday, July 2, 2009 10:37 AM

General Mills, which received thousands of grateful emails and phone calls after it released a gluten-free version of its Chex cereal last July with little fanfare, is expanding its efforts in the niche, Ilan Brat reports. Its Betty Crocker brand is offering gluten-free mixes for cookies, brownies and cakes. (Gluten is a protein in wheat that many people react badly to.)

The thrust is indicative of a change in thinking by big marketers, indicates Ann Simonds, General Mills' president of baking products. "It used to be, as a marketer in the food industry, you needed a $50 million idea to make the business model work," she says. "Today, you can meet an unmet need that will be a $5 million business. ... That would be worth it for a company like General Mills."

General Mills says it's spending much less on the gluten-free marketing effort than it normally does for national launches. It will spread the word on the new Betty Croker products through online marketing, advertising in gluten-free lifestyle magazines, and participating in gluten-related events. One hitch: General Mills has found that manufacturing gluten-free baking products that meet its standards has been no piece of cake.

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