White Rabbit is absolutely flying, top of gluten-free pizza, meal solutions and fresh pasta, and now the fastest growing brand in total pizza, full stop. We couldn't wait to sit down with Nick to talk through how they're competing and growing at this scale.

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White Rabbit is driving 42% growth in frozen gluten-free pizza with just 8% distribution share. What's the strategic bet behind that kind of capital efficiency?

"Without a shadow of a doubt, it is our commitment to matching the quality and value equation of equivalent products in the premium tier of the parent category. That is what our entire brand proposition is built on, and it was a risk, because it's expensive. On the one hand, gluten free ingredients are more expensive, as are the bespoke processes we use to get the quality where it needs to be. On the other hand, we are committed to not charging our consumers more, because why should they have to pay more for something they didn't choose? We know that our consumers just want the same quality and choices as parent category without having to pay more for the privilege; our strategic 'bet' was to double down on delivering what our consumer wants, no matter the cost, and trusting that if we win with our consumer, we will win as a business in the long run."

You're number one in gluten-free pizza, meal solutions, and fresh pasta, and the fastest growing brand in total pizza. At what point did you stop thinking of White Rabbit as a free-from brand and start thinking of it as a food brand?

"Honestly, from day one. We always believed that the way to win with our consumers was not to treat them as 'other'. We wanted to make delicious food that was good enough for anyone to enjoy; it just so happens to be gluten free. So many brands see a quick opportunity to fill a gap, with little to no knowledge of what the consumer actually wants. What they want isn't rocket science. They want the same things everyone else does, great food that represents value at whatever tier it's in (in our case, the premium tier). Likewise, they don't want medicinal, grey, functional brands that single them out, they want brands that speak to their values, are engaging, and are proud to represent them (and vice versa). We aren't here to just participate, or for a quick win. We are here to change the way the entire category thinks about itself; that essence has been at the very heart of White Rabbit since the beginning."

Gluten-free is growing at nearly 5% while plant-based is declining, yet most of the frozen free-from fixture is still built around the 4% of shoppers who are both gluten-free and plant-based. That feels like a massive white space. How big is the opportunity for White Rabbit, and how are you going after it?

"I think it's easy to believe that the answer to the category is one size fits all products that ostensibly solve multiple problems. We will always have options that cater for those who are both gluten free and plant based, but the reality is this has been massively over spaced by retailers who want to solve two problems in one. It makes sense on the face of it, but the more you speak to consumers, the less sense it starts to make. People making one dietary sacrifice do not want to be forced into making an extra one, especially when it is so often at the expense of taste and/or choice."

You own your own bakery and built bespoke machinery to make gluten-free sourdough at scale. Most challengers would have outsourced that. What did building your own manufacturing unlock that you couldn't have got any other way?

"Quality. No one could make our product to the level we wanted, so we had to do it ourselves. It would've been far simpler to just outsource the product and pour all the money we invested in our process into marketing, but we knew that wasn't the route to sustained success in the long term. Building a manufacturing site from scratch, especially through Brexit, Covid and a cost of living crisis, has been incredibly tough. As one of our earliest mentors said to us when we started, 'you've chosen the hardest possible route in one of the hardest possible categories, but if you can do this you can do anything'. As hard as it's been, and there have been times in the early days when we've genuinely questioned the decision, it has meant we now have something tangibly unique to our name. We've built a big old moat around our business; as hard as it's been over the last 10 years, we know it'll be as, if not more, difficult for someone else to try and jump over every hurdle we've had to face to get here. It also forced us to become experts in our craft in a way we just never would have been if someone else was making our food for us."

What does the gluten-free category look like in five years, and where does White Rabbit need to be to have shaped it?

"There is a lot of growth potential for gluten free over the next five years, which makes it an incredibly exciting category to be in. We've built our own consumer panel of over 1500 gluten free consumers in order to better understand their pain points and what they'd like to see on retail shelves. We know at the moment consumers are having to go to 5 or 6 different retail stores a week to fulfil a full trolley shop due to lack of range and availability. So, retailers need to work towards creating a destination for gluten free across all store formats, enabling ease of shop for the consumer but also to gain their loyalty across other areas of the store. More variety needs to be offered across all gluten free categories, specifically meal solutions, and there needs to be increased representation across all levels of the pricing hierarchy, including own label."

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