A couple of weeks ago a big wave of gluten free on the go options were announced. Tesco have launched a range of four pre-prepared sandwiches, Costa Coffee have launched a gluten free chicken wrap and Starbucks veggie wrap is now available nationwide. In addition to this Amy’s Kitchen tomato soup and mac & cheese is now available in ASDA cafes, M&S have started selling gluten free scotch eggs and for those in Plymouth JD’s Grill have started offering an amazing gluten free ‘hoagie’ to take away at lunchtimes (pictured right). Life is certainly looking up for coeliacs and those following a gluten free diet with these convenient choices.
I was subsequently contacted by Costa Coffee and offered the chance to take some friends out to sample their first gluten free savoury offering. Costa have previously offered gluten free brownies and also cherry bakewells, and I believe there were GF Christmas cake slices stocked over the festive period. The new wrap consists of British chicken with basil mayo, tomatoes & rocket on a seeded Newburne Bakehouse wrap.
I took along friends Greg and Sarah today to sample the wrap. Greg is going through coeliac diagnosis at the moment after a recent positive blood test, whilst Sarah is both gluten and dairy intolerant. At this point I should point out that the new product is also being marketed as dairy free, though it should be noted that the allergy advice on the packaging does state “may contain milk traces”. I asked Costa to clarify this and have had the following response:
“It is not possible to guarantee that the product is 100% dairy-free because it is pre-prepared in a third party factory, which also produces products with dairy in them. Therefore there is an extremely small chance of a trace of dairy being present.”
Taste testers Sarah and Greg!
So as for the verdicts. Sarah said: “I thought it was a tasty choice for an on-the-go lunch option. The wrap had a good texture, contained lots of chicken but may benefit from more mayonnaise or maybe another sauce, like GF sweet chilli? A good idea would be to have a gluten free meal deal at Costa – any drink, the wrap and one of the brownies/bakewells or crisps.”
Greg said: “For my first gluten free meal out it was a pretty good start. Came away feeling full and satisfied. The wraps matched any other retailer, like Boots and Sainsbury’s. Very good filling and a great amount of chicken. A little skimpy on the sauce, and a personal preference would have been sweet chili sauce. The cherry bakewells were fantastic, they were just like Mr Kipling, hit the spot right on.”
In my opinion great comments from Sarah and Greg and I’d completely agree with their verdicts. I’m already a fan of the Newburn Bakehouse wraps and the amount of filling was great, plenty of chicken and just the right amount of salad. It was a touch on the dry side and would definitely have benefited from a bit more mayo, though the idea above of sweet chilli sauce would be brilliant! The wrap is priced at £3.75 which isn’t cheap but for a safe, convenient and tasty gluten free option on the go this could be worse. I can’t see me buying this very often in Plymouth when I’ve got Clare’s Gluten Free and JD’s Grill nearby, but I will definitely be buying this again when I’m on my travels.
It’s taken a long time for Costa to bring out a savoury gluten free option, but I think this is a good one. One thing I must say is that my wife, Abby, joined us and she is going gluten free this week for Coeliac Awareness Week, but as she is vegetarian there was no savoury gluten free things that she could eat. Hopefully something will be added in this respect in the future. Finally a big thanks to Sarah and Greg for helping out with this review and to Costa for shouting us all lunch today.
Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea
Gluten Free By The Sea 
I’m so glad Starbucks and other chains are offering more options for the wheatless wanderer out. I will have to check this out, thanks for putting it out there.
It would be great to see a veggie option!