Niche markets are sometimes larger than you expect. The case of Pedon.

Pedon is one of those brands that has a solid market share but is not known very well, even in Italy, its home country.

A manufacturer of dozens of private labels product, Pedon has also its own lines of products, one of which deserves special attention.

Pedon has developed a line of gluten-free products which Luca Zocca, the marketing manager, saw as a natural extension of traditional product lines. Especially interesting was the typology of consumers who adopted the product.

The gluten-free label is given only after a series of very though controls and accreditation (clearly mentioned on the packaging by the way) which explains why this product eventually got adopted by a population who does NOT suffer of a gluten-related pathology.

According to Luca Zocca, the US market for gluten-free products is estimated to 30 million people, 9 millions of whom actually suffer from a gluten-related pathology.

Our take:

The business case shows vividly what a market research may probably not have revealed, namely that side features of a product enable it to transcend its initial market and dramatically increase its potential. Think about it for one second. Although the gluten-free products of Pedon are not even organic, the additional control procedures applied are sufficient to attract three as many customers as you may expect.

By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab is the founder of IntoTheMinds. He specializes in e-commerce, retail and logistics. He is also a research fellow in the marketing department of the Free University of Brussels and acts as a coach for several startups and public organizations. He holds a PhD in Marketing, a MBA in Finance, and a MSc in Chemistry. He can be contacted by email, Linkedin or by phone (+32 486 42 79 42)