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| Debbie Lindgren, above, and business partner Linda Manaster are marketing children’s activity dough that is free of wheat gluten and six other allergens. | Michael S. Domine |
Hasbro’s Play-Doh has been a staple of childhoods for 50 years. Yet some parents prefer not to use it because it contains wheat gluten.
Debbie Lindgren and Linda Manaster think they see an opportunity here.
The San Diego County duo and their small business, Bluedominoes, have embarked on making their own variety of children’s activity dough. One selling point: It’s free of wheat gluten and six other allergens.
One of their target markets is families with celiac children. That is, children who have a bad reaction to wheat. One in 133 children has celiac disease, said Lindgren. Another target market is families with autistic children — 1 in 150 children has the disease. Many families seek to control autism through diet.
Lindgren and Manaster are also betting there is a following among ecologically conscious, “green” families. The United States has 12 million of those families with children under age 3.
Bluedominoes, a startup business based in Rancho Santa Fe, is going after a patent on its activity dough recipe. It sells products through its Web site and is in talks with large retailers. It plans to expand into finger paint and a line of gluten-free, nontoxic art supplies. “We really take a lot of care” in developing products, said Lindgren, who spoke of working on stickers and party favors.
Bluedominoes recently won a San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce small-business award for most innovative product.
Others see opportunity in the gluten-free market.
Finding The Sweet Spot
Robin and David Wisotsky, who run the Cupcakes Squared bakery in Point Loma, have gluten-free offerings among the 28 varieties of cupcakes they sell.
The requests for gluten-free treats started coming soon after the bakery opened in April 2007.
“Robin started doing it because she loves to make people happy,” said David Wisotsky. Word got around. Now gluten-free offerings comprise 5 percent of bakery sales, David Wisotsky said.
The bakery also has two gluten-free, vegan offerings, including a coconut-pineapple cupcake.
