My Tiff with Target

One of the best things that can happen to a Celiac is when they walk into a conventional grocery store, just looking to pickup some basics (milk, eggs meat) and they stumble across gluten free products hidden within other sections. This happened to me last year at the Target in Roseville, MN. A relative told me that she saw some GF cake mix at that location and was completely surprised by it. I stopped in, looked around and picked up some Tinkyada noodles (my favorite). I took note to remember that this location had GF options but noted that they did NOT have Xanthan Gum (that’s a whole other rant). As we gluten free bakers know, xanthan gum is essential to any GF baked good.

Anyway, I generally try to pickup my bread, bagels, crackers and pasta from locally owned stores that support the GF lifestyle in the Twin Cities so I never really paid attention to what Target or Rainbow were stocking. I personally enjoy Fresh and Natural Foods, The Wedge Co-op or Tailor Made Nutrition.

Last week, however, I desperately needed some bread. If you’re anything like me, your prime grocery shopping time is approximately 10:30 p.m. when you’re finally on your way home after a day full of work and other commitments. So I swung into that same Target in Roseville knowing that they supply some GF products. What I didn’t realize, was that they do not stock all of the GOOD GF products. They had one type of bread (name not be mentioned) and it was one of the breads that I used to eat in the days of mail-ordering gluten free products from Canada. Needless to say, I was desperate so I bought it. Upon arriving home and making a sandwich I immediately regretted my purchase and have vowed to buy bread in bulk from now on from brands I enjoy.

The biggest disappointment of this whole adventure is that this Target is making an effort to supply GF products to their customers but they’re not choosing the best options available. In turn, people will stop purchasing those products (such as myself) and Target will stop carrying any GF products because they aren’t selling well. This isn’t just happening in Target, I’m sure it happens in any corporate store that tries to bring in GF product.

I plan to contact the Target Grocery Manager about this as to actually make something happen. We don’t need any other stores saying that there is “no demand for GF product”. We’re here and we need options!