Gluten free bakery opening sparks queues down road

THERE are just a few hundred yards between their front doors.

- BY CHRIS SLATER

Yet the scores of hungry punters queuing near Stockport's newest Greggs one Saturday morning last month, were in fact waiting to get into a new, very different kind of bakery.

Queues snaked down the pavement as the Gluten Free Kitchen opened its doors for the first time.

The new independent eatery in Cheadle Heath does exactly what its name suggests, specialising in cakes, pastries, sandwiches and other delicacies for those who live gluten-free (GF) lives.

Coeliac disease, a condition where your immune system attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten, affects about 1 in 100 people in the UK.

While many others decide to cut gluten from their diet for health reasons or as a lifestyle choice.

Gluten Free Kitchen has been opened by couple Jess Davids, 27, and Elliott Williams, 32, who previously took local artisan markets by storm with their GF treats.

"I started through my frustration" Jess said.

"I got diagnosed six years ago now, and it was just the lack of choice.

"Whenever you go out, it's almost like a mission to find somewhere that you just pick up something to eat.

"And also what's available in the shops. It's almost like gluten-free is viewed as flavour free.

"A lot of the shop bought cakes just taste really bland, really claggy.

"They're not very fresh.

"So essentially I was trying to create what I've been missing in the last six years."

Jess has always worked in hospitality, including being a supervisor at a cafe.