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07
Jul 2024
The Whixley woman turning a coeliac diagnosis into an award-winning pie business
When Laura Voakes found out she had coeliac disease, her first thought was how to tell her boyfriend and his family.
Laura had met Nick Voakes, the son of renowned Yorkshire pie maker Andrew Voakes, in 2006. By the time she was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2010, she was already working part-time in the family business at their farm in Whixley near Knaresborough.
Coeliac disease is not a food allergy or intolerance but rather an auto-immune condition that causes damage to the small intestine when gluten is consumed. This means avoiding all foods that contain grains such as wheat - an ingredient in pastry.
But Laura needn’t have worried. Her diagnosis turned out to be the catalyst for a whole new spin-off of the Voakes business that would become part of the growing 'free from' industry and win awards over the likes of M&S.
Developing the recipe
Andrew launched Voakes Pies in 1997 and has, among many accolades, been named the Yorkshire Supreme Pork Pie Champion four times. By 2010, when Laura received her coeliac diagnosis, he had already noticed an increase in customers asking about gluten-free pies. So he suggested to Laura that they try to make one.
It was easier said than done, however, and took around 50 attempts to perfect. Laura said:
The exact recipe is a closely guarded secret because it’s “the whole basis of the business” but involves a hot water shortcrust pastry using traditional methods. The meat is the same as the regular Voakes products, with the pork coming from pigs bred exclusively at the farm. Each pie is hand blocked, and a machine used just for the packing stage.
Laura said:
The first step when we were developing the pies was to make them taste as good as the real thing. We really felt that we wanted people to be able to buy an affordable product that had good quality ingredients in it. The thing with a lot of gluten-free products, especially those with meat in them, is that the ingredients can be a bit inferior.
Launching the business
Laura and Nick with their daughters on the Voakes family farm.
The business, called Voakes Free From, launched in 2012 with Laura and Nick as directors. It has grown steadily ever since, seeing a 468 per cent growth to last year. In 2015 their pork pie was named the Best Free From Product by a top industry awards panel.
The range now includes a selection of pork pies, meat pies, quiches and sausage rolls. They are all gluten free, while around three quarters are dairy free too. Most do not contain other allergens such as soya, celery and sulphites. Laura said:
We’ve tried to exclude as many allergens as we can, so some of our products are suitable for people on a FODMAP diet. The only allergen we’ve struggled to remove from our pastry is egg. But we’ve also recently brought out a vegan range which is really natural.
They sell their products in larger farm shops like Weeton’s in Harrogate, but most of their sales are through their online store. Everything is made fresh to order and shipped to customers for next day delivery.
The online shop was launched early on and turned out to be a godsend during the pandemic. Where the original Voakes Pies business struggled because it sold mainly through shops across Yorkshire, the online Free From business thrived.
In March 2020, it saw a 360 per cent increase against the same month the previous year, and the uplift continued throughout lockdown. Laura said:
Covid was a massive game-changer for us. We were working 20-hour days.
They now employ six people and have a new purpose-built factory on the farm. It comprises a production room, oven room and dispatch room with a quality-controlled gluten-free environment.
Growing awareness
Last month, the business won a variety of gold, silver and bronze awards in eight categories of the Free From Food Awards in London, beating national names such as M&S, Tesco and Birdseye. It was also named Best Micro Brand for the third consecutive year.
Laura said:
Winning awards is really important for a company like us because it makes people want to try your product. And beating the big players like M&S is something to be proud of.
According to Coeliac UK, one in 100 people has the condition but only 36% have been clinically diagnosed. In the decade or so since her diagnosis, Laura has seen awareness of the disease grow and, with it, the number of gluten-free products available in supermarkets and restaurants. And the market is showing no signs of slowing down. Laura said:
Even people who aren’t coeliac are choosing to go gluten-free because it makes them feel better. For me, it’s been a positive thing. It has made me well, and it’s been the basis of our business.
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