Darren Jamieson: Welcome to today’s episode of The Engaging Marketeer. I am joined by Zoe Devenport of Henry R Davis—a self-confessed “gobby cow” and, more importantly, our accountant.
She knows exactly what I spend all my money on, and what I say I spend all my money on. Those are often two very different things.
Zoe, welcome!
Zoe Devenport: Good morning! How are you?
Darren Jamieson: I’m good. How are you?
Zoe Devenport: I’m good, thanks.
Darren Jamieson: Excellent. So… I believe you don’t want to be talking about accounts?
Zoe Devenport: No, definitely not. Accounts are boring. So don’t switch off—because we’re not going to talk about accounts.
Darren Jamieson: No tax, no spreadsheets today?
Zoe Devenport: Nope. Something a bit different.
Darren Jamieson: So, what exactly are we talking about then?
Zoe Devenport: Well, I thought I’d share something with you—something that happened to me five years ago. It completely changed my life.
Darren Jamieson: Wow, okay!
Zoe Devenport: People might think it’s a bit trivial.
Darren Jamieson: You met me longer ago than that, so it can’t be me.
Zoe Devenport: I’ve known you a long time, Darren.
Darren Jamieson: That sounded like a threat.
[00:01:25]
Zoe Devenport: People might roll their eyes and say, “Oh God, we’re talking about that again,” but if it happens to you, it’s a massive deal. Until you get your head around it, it’s really hard. So I thought I’d share that and show how difficult it can be.
Darren Jamieson: Well, we all know how difficult you are… So go on—what happened five years ago?
Zoe Devenport: January 2019—I was diagnosed as coeliac. That means I can’t eat gluten in any way, shape, or form. I had symptoms for years… IBS, they called it. I was anemic. I wasn’t absorbing iron, B12, that kind of thing.
Eventually, I was diagnosed via a blood test. Then they make you eat gluten for 12 weeks—just to see what happens—and after that they send you for a camera down the throat to take biopsies. Which is just lovely, obviously.
Darren Jamieson: This is sounding better by the minute.
Zoe Devenport: Right? But here’s why I wanted to talk about it. Over the past few months—especially around Christmas—this has all come into the spotlight a bit more.
[00:02:56]
Zoe Devenport: It was mainly to do with This Morning on ITV. Did you see that?
Darren Jamieson: I’m an avid watcher of This Morning… I remember seeing it once in about 1994.
Zoe Devenport: Same! But recently, Vanessa Feltz was on, and she took a call from a woman who was having family over for Christmas. One of them was coeliac and apparently asked that the whole Christmas lunch be gluten-free.
The caller thought it was totally unfair, and Vanessa backed her up, saying it was ridiculous to expect everyone else to eat the same food.
It sparked a lot of backlash—hundreds of complaints. This Morning ended up donating to Coeliac UK and apologising. They brought on a doctor the next day, but that only seemed to dig them deeper. Eventually, they invited Becky Excell—a celebrity chef who does gluten-free recipes—to show people that you can cook anything gluten-free.
Darren Jamieson: So, this kind of opened up the wider discussion?
Zoe Devenport: Yeah, and it made me think about what supermarkets are doing too. Everything’s about cost-cutting now.
This past Christmas was awful in terms of gluten-free options. A few years ago, I could walk into a supermarket and grab party food that was gluten-free—no problem. This year? Nothing. I went to six different supermarkets.
On Boxing Day, I had all the family over. We didn’t want a fancy meal—we just wanted to chuck food in the oven. But there was barely anything I could eat. I managed to find two or three items, and even those weren’t proper gluten-free options—they were things that happened not to contain gluten.
Trying to cook everything from scratch was stressful. Restaurants, supermarkets… the whole experience of being coeliac is really hard.
Darren Jamieson: So that woman on This Morning felt it was unreasonable to accommodate the coeliac person?
Zoe Devenport: Yeah. She acted like it was a lifestyle choice—like someone being vegetarian and forcing everyone else to go vegetarian. But coeliac disease is not a lifestyle choice. If I eat gluten, it makes me really ill.
There are four coeliacs in my family, and we all react differently. One of us doesn’t show symptoms, one throws up, and I… well, I get the opposite end of it. Which is just… great.
Depending on how much gluten I’ve had, it could be two hours later, six hours—it varies. But I’ll start getting stomach cramps. And if I’m not near a toilet within 10–15 minutes? That’s a disaster.
Darren Jamieson: That’s not a good look.
Zoe Devenport: No, it’s not. And I’ve been caught out before—it’s really embarrassing. I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but hey, it is what it is.
Darren Jamieson: That’s all right—it’s only going out on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn…
Zoe Devenport: [Laughs] It’s fine, it’s fine…
Darren Jamieson: So when we put a social media clip together for LinkedIn and tag Zoe in it, let’s make sure that part goes in.
Zoe Devenport: Honestly, I think it’s a great advert for Henry R Davis, really.
Darren Jamieson: Nothing says “hire this accountant” like explosive diarrhoea.
Zoe Devenport: [Laughs] It’s just not a good look. The worst time was when I’d just been diagnosed. I remember chatting to a barmaid in our local pub—she’d also just found out she was coeliac.
You start panicking. What will I eat? How will I eat out? How do I go to parties or someone else’s house without sounding really picky?Coeliac UK recommends that you avoid anything with a “may contain” warning because of potential cross-contamination. I used to be super strict about that—wouldn’t touch anything with “may contain” on the label.
Now? Meh. If it says “may contain,” I eat it. But last night I almost had an accident.
[00:08:07]
Zoe Devenport: So last night, I had my grandson over. We go swimming every Thursday evening and he stays at mine.
He’d already had his dinner and then wanted a yoghurt—only ones we had were my stepson’s Müller Corner ones, with the little chocolate balls.
He had a few spoonfuls and said he was full, and I thought, “Well, I’m not wasting that,” and finished it. I took one spoonful… and then realised the chocolate balls were biscuits, not rice.
I looked at the wrapper—wheat everywhere! I spat it out straight away, didn’t swallow it, thankfully. Otherwise, I might not have been here this morning!
Darren Jamieson: You’d have been erupting like a volcano!
Zoe Devenport: Yeah, exactly!
The funniest story, though, is from just after I was diagnosed. I’d had my endoscopy and the official confirmation that I was coeliac. I was on a waiting list to see a dietitian, and in the meantime, I’d booked a trip to New York—it had been planned for over a year.
I was so excited for the full NYC food experience: hot dogs, pretzels… and suddenly, I couldn’t have any of it.
You start planning everything with military precision. You don’t just walk into a place and hope for the best anymore. You scour websites to check if they serve gluten-free food. On TripAdvisor, you search “gluten-free restaurants,” but often that just means there’s one item they can tweak.
And I don’t want dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan—I just want gluten-free! That’s it.
I was really bad about it at first. About a year ago, Craig (my husband) and I were at a café in Chester called Marmalade—they’re fantastic for gluten-free, dairy-free, everything.
We were sitting next to a dad and his daughter, and they were making such a fuss over what they could and couldn’t eat. And I said, “God, they’re a bit over the top.”
Craig just looked at me and went, “You used to be like that.”
And I was like, “Was I?!”
He said, “Yeah, you were really anal about it.”
But now I’ve relaxed. I’ve become more confident in what I can and can’t eat. Like, I can eat sourdough now. It technically contains wheat, but the fermentation process changes the structure of the gluten.
So, I’ll try it on a Saturday morning when I know we’re not going anywhere—and see how I feel in a few hours. I’ve been fine.
Because, let’s be honest, most gluten-free products? Rubbish. I go to Anfield sometimes, and in the lounge they’ll have gluten-free bread—it’s like cardboard. Everyone takes the burger out of the bun and sends the bread back to the kitchen.
Darren Jamieson: I was there with Chris Shipper, and he said the same—he has a daughter who’s coeliac, and even he said the bread was horrible.
Zoe Devenport: Yeah, it’s disgusting.
Why are some gluten-free products okay and others awful? It’s like polystyrene. There are loads of brands out there, and surprisingly, a lot of supermarket own-brands are as good—or better—than the big gluten-free companies.
What I’ve found is that the best stuff usually comes from artisan bakers. It’s often someone who’s coeliac themselves or has a family member who is. So they start baking gluten-free bread, cakes, pies, etc.
You go to these “free-from” artisan food fairs, and the queues are massive. You end up buying three months’ worth of stuff and filling your freezer with it because it’s so good.
Shop-bought stuff? Usually disappointing. Biscuits are rubbish. Gluten-free sage and onion stuffing? Doesn’t taste anything like sage or onion. I have to add more sage and onion to the sage and onion stuffing! Like—why does the flavour taste different if it’s just the breadcrumbs that have changed?
Worst restaurant experience? Nando’s in Leeds, a few years ago. I went in, asked what I could eat, and they brought me this ring binder about four inches thick:
“There you go—our allergen info!”
And I’m thinking, I don’t want to sit here flipping through a ring binder while everyone stares at me. I just want some bloody chicken.
They’ve improved now—you can tweak the menu online—but back then, it was a nightmare.
[00:13:22]
Darren Jamieson: Do you think restaurants are doing enough for people with coeliac disease?
Zoe Devenport: Some are, some aren’t. Brunning and Price, for example—they’re great. Most of their food is gluten-free by default. So I can go to any of their pubs and order without panicking.
A lot of restaurants just offer a token gluten-free meal. And desserts? Always fruit salad. Or ice cream. And then someone brings it out with a wafer stuck in—”Here you go!” I’m like, “I can’t eat that.” And you know they’re just going to pull the wafer out and send it back. You just know.
Some places say, “We don’t really get asked about gluten-free,” but that’s because people like me do their research. If you don’t advertise it, we won’t come in—and they think they’re missing out on just one person, but they’re not. They’re missing out on the whole group, because the coeliac usually picks the restaurant.
I used to be in Ladies Circle and BNI. Whenever we organised meals out, I’d always offer to arrange where we were going. Not just because I’m nosy—but so I could make sure I could actually eat there! So restaurants that think they’re just missing one customer… nah. They’re missing ten.
Just something on their website or Facebook saying “we can adapt most dishes to be gluten-free” would be a game-changer. Then I’d give them a try.
[00:15:14]
Darren Jamieson: You said you were diagnosed five years ago, but presumably, it didn’t start then?
Zoe Devenport: No. I had symptoms for years. The main ones are stomach pain, bloating, diarrhoea, low energy. The gluten affects the lining of your small intestine.
The best way I explain it is this: imagine your gut lining is covered in little fingers—villi—that absorb nutrients. When you eat gluten, those villi swell up, they stop moving, and they can’t absorb nutrients. That’s why coeliacs often end up deficient in things like calcium, iron, B12, etc.
Because of that, I have to go for a bone density scan every four years to check for signs of osteoporosis—especially since I’m over 40.
Darren Jamieson: Over 40?! No way. You don’t look it.
Zoe Devenport: [Laughs] I am! And yeah—I get B12 injections every three months, and I can’t take iron tablets because they upset my stomach even more.
Darren Jamieson: So there must be loads of people who are actually coeliac and don’t even know it.
Zoe Devenport: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve told my kids they should get tested, especially since four of us in the family are coeliac.
Any time one of them has a dodgy stomach, I’m like, “Go to the doctor!” But they think they’re immortal.
At home now, we barely have anything with gluten in. There’s a loaf of bread in the freezer for anyone else, but 90% of what we eat is cooked from scratch and gluten-free.
And I’m not living off “hamster food.” We eat everything—just with tweaks.
Darren Jamieson: Because some people do think it’s a fad. “Oh, gluten-free? That’s just trendy.” But you can still eat a big, juicy steak.
Zoe Devenport: Exactly. Proper, whole food. Just without gluten. That’s all.
Darren Jamieson: So here’s a question: why do we still put gluten in everything?
Zoe Devenport: It’s scary what wheat is in. I was in a petrol station recently, trying to grab something quick for lunch, and everything had wheat—even soup!
It’s used as a thickener instead of cornflour, which is gluten-free. I can have cornflour, rice flour, almond flour—loads of alternatives. But manufacturers use wheat because it’s cheap.
Even cereals—like Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes—they put barley malt in the flavouring, so I can’t eat them. But Tesco’s or Asda’s own brand? No barley malt—so I can.
[00:19:24]
Zoe Devenport: Around Christmas, it really hits you. The party food used to be amazing—Co-op was a go-to. Me and my family would raid the fresh party food aisle and load up. But this year? There wasn’t a single item in their fridge I could eat. Not one.
Everything had wheat in it. Even the things that didn’t need it. It’s frustrating.
Here at Engage Web, you’ve got Leanne who avoids gluten, and her mum is coeliac, right?
Darren Jamieson: Yeah—Viv, the mother-in-law. Still not killed her off yet. I keep trying.
Zoe Devenport: [Laughs] And Emily’s dairy-free, lactose-free, and vegetarian. That’s very specific!
Darren Jamieson: Exactly. We get chocolates at Valentine’s and advent calendars at Christmas, but it’s always hard to find something Emily can eat. Some companies just get Maltesers and say “there you go.”
Should businesses be doing more for people with dietary requirements?
Zoe Devenport: It’s a tough one. As an accountant, I see both sides. Small businesses are struggling. From my point of view, I’d say yes—they should cater more. But realistically, not everyone can afford to.
When you have multiple intolerances—like Emily does—it becomes really difficult. And people will say things like, “Oh, you’re just being fussy.” Same thing people say to coeliacs.
You hear, “You’ll be fine, just eat it.” Luckily, I won’t die from eating gluten, but I will be really ill for days. It knocks your energy, messes with your system—it’s horrible.
Darren Jamieson: My daughter’s lactose intolerant. We found out the hard way—at a Hilton Hotel, where she ate loads of bread and butter. That night? Game over.
And now when she visits her sister, and someone says, “Just eat it—you’ll be fine,” she goes, “Okay, but it’s your toilet I’m going to be in!”
Zoe Devenport: Exactly! When people say that to me, I just want to go, “Okay then, I’ll explode in your loo and we’ll see how ‘fine’ I am.”
Which brings me to the funniest story…
So I’d just started seeing Craig. We’ve been married for over two years now, together for about four. This was early days—first time I went to his house, he cooked me dinner. All romantic.
Earlier that day, I’d been on a Zoom networking event where they sent us food and wine to the office. It was all branded gluten-free. I hadn’t eaten anything else all day. But… clearly, there was some gluten in there.
That night, I started getting stomach cramps. Now, this kind of pain comes in waves—like childbirth. It just doubles me over. I’m trying to play it cool, but eventually, I had to ask, “Can I use your bathroom?”
I ended up going to the loo three times in an hour. I was mortified.
In the end, I told him I had to go home. He said, “You’re in agony—you can’t drive!” I said, “You can’t take me—I might shit in your Porsche!”
And bless him—he still asked me to marry him!
Darren Jamieson: Now that’s how you know it’s love. Most blokes spend years dreaming of a woman who’ll say those magic words: “I might shit in your Porsche.”
Zoe, we’ve got another social clip sorted right there.
Zoe Devenport: Go for it! That’s the title of this podcast sorted: “Let’s Meet Zoe – She Might Shit in Your Porsche.”
Darren Jamieson: Reminds me of Dumb and Dumber, that bathroom scene… Thankfully, you didn’t get that bad, right?
Zoe Devenport: Not quite, but I have had moments. Like being in a department store and having to queue for the ladies’. You’re sitting in a cubicle thinking, “Someone dry their hands, PLEASE—just make some noise!”
It’s mortifying. But I’m talking about it now because… it is what it is. I can’t change it.
[00:25:10]
Zoe Devenport:
You know, you can actually get a card—a pass—to skip the queue for the loo.
Darren Jamieson: Wait, what? Like a “I’m going to sh*t myself” card?
Zoe Devenport: Yeah, genuinely! It’s a real thing. It lets you bypass queues for public toilets in shops, malls, department stores—basically saying, “I have a condition, I need access now.”
Darren Jamieson: So, like a toilet fast pass?
Zoe Devenport: Exactly! Get to the front of the line like at Alton Towers—but for toilets. I don’t have one, but I probably should.
Darren Jamieson: You should get one. I bet someone like you knows how to get one.
Zoe Devenport: [Laughs] I’ll look into it.
People say the weirdest things to me about being coeliac. Stuff like, “Oh, you can train your body to tolerate it again.” I’d love to know how.
Also, the longer you go without gluten, the worse the reaction when you accidentally eat it. So that idea of slowly reintroducing it? Doesn’t work.
There’s even this horrible comedy clip—someone sent it to me—where a guy jokes that when a coeliac friend visits, he gives them biscuits and tells them they’re gluten-free, even though they’re not… just to see if they’ll shit themselves on the way home.
It’s dark humour. But there’s some truth there too. It’s like, sometimes I just don’t go anywhere anymore, to avoid the stress.
We once did a Come Dine With Me through Ladies Circle. Six of us, scored each other in secret envelopes—it was great fun! I hosted the first one before COVID hit, but never got to finish the rest.
The others were nervous about cooking gluten-free for me. I felt like I was being awkward, like I was making everything more expensive or complicated. I probably was.
Darren Jamieson: You didn’t film it?
Zoe Devenport: No, but I’ve got photos! It’d be brilliant to do it in a business group—film it for socials.
Darren Jamieson: I actually applied to Come Dine With Me! I got through to the final interview round but didn’t get picked. Probably not argumentative enough…
Zoe Devenport: Same! I’m too nice—I’d just sit there quietly and rate everyone fairly.
Darren Jamieson: I had this idea to make a Toblerone cheesecake for it. Never made one before, still haven’t.
Zoe Devenport: I made butternut squash, red pepper and chilli soup, gluten-free bread rolls, chilli for main, and chocolate orange mousse for dessert. It was alright!
I pick restaurants based on dessert. I love puddings. If I can’t have dessert, I’ll go somewhere else.
First trip to New York after diagnosis, I flew with American Airlines. I ticked all the boxes—gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free—because that’s how their options are bundled. And what do they serve? A tiny gluten-free bread roll with two strips of roasted red pepper. That was it.
I mean, I get it… they’re trying to cater for everyone. But come on—two peppers on a roll with no butter? No spread? No thanks.
Sometimes, I re-buy stuff I know is bad just hoping it’ll be better this time. Like gluten-free frozen pizzas? Always disappointing.
I swear they put vegan cheese on it, which just… isn’t cheese.
[00:31:40]
Zoe Devenport: M&S used to be amazing for gluten-free. Pre-COVID, they had double fridge space full of options. Sandwiches, ready meals, desserts—you name it.
But after COVID hit, the gluten-free section got cut down, and it’s never bounced back.
Now, that space is taken up by plant-based food. Vegan stuff. It’s more “in demand,” apparently.
Tesco’s the same. Their frozen aisle used to have two whole freezers of gluten-free stuff. Now it’s barely half a freezer—and the rest is all plant-based.
The world doesn’t need more vegans! (Sorry, vegans.) I get that people are choosing different ways of eating—but this is medical for me. It’s not a fad. It’s not a trend.
Whenever I do a BBQ, I have to get plant-based burgers. And I’m told by Leanne, “Only this one’s good. It’s made with pea protein and tastes like beef.”
It doesn’t taste like beef. It’s grey. It looks sad. It’s not the same.
I’ve tried plant-based sausages too. Bought them once for the office. Had leftovers at home. Ate them. Craig said they tasted like dishwater.
My sister’s vegetarian—well, she says she is. Constantly repeats “I’m vegetarian” during a meal… but let me tell you a story.
We were in a pub. She’s asking the poor waiter to find vegetarian gravy. He’s back and forth to the kitchen for 10 minutes… comes back, says, “Sorry, we don’t have any.”
And what does she do? Orders the ham hock.
Darren Jamieson: [Laughing] No way!
Zoe Devenport: I’m like, “What was the point of the gravy interrogation, then?!” And she goes, “It’s fine—I just won’t eat the ham.”
But… you ordered ham hock!
Drives me mad.
No one in my family’s vegetarian. Everyone eats meat. They’re normal.
Darren Jamieson: We’re definitely going to get complaints about this episode.
Zoe Devenport: Let them come. [Laughs]
As an accountant, I do books for a lot of restaurants. And yeah, they’re trying to make things gluten-free in the cheapest way they can—tweaking recipes, using substitutes.
But some places just say, “Nope, we can’t do it. If we lose out on a group of customers, so be it.”
Sometimes it’s not about what they cook, it’s about the environment. They don’t have the space for a second prep area.
Like Brunning and Price—they have a separate fryer for gluten-free fish and chips. It’s made in a different part of the kitchen to avoid cross-contamination. Not everyone can do that.
McDonald’s and Burger King? Go abroad, and they do gluten-free buns. Here? Nothing. Chips and a hash brown. That’s it.
Darren Jamieson: There’s a McDonald’s in Leicester Square that’s 100% plant-based. The whole restaurant.
Zoe Devenport: I didn’t know that. That’s weird.
Darren Jamieson: Leanne walked in, asked if they had vegetarian options. They were like, “Love, everything is vegetarian.”
Zoe Devenport: There are a few places in the UK doing just gluten-free stuff—but not many.
In New York, we found an Italian place that was entirely gluten-free. No wheat anywhere in the kitchen.
And I finally got to eat cannoli! I’ve always wanted one. You know what cannoli are?
Darren Jamieson: Why don’t you explain it for the listeners?
Zoe Devenport: They’re little tubes made from pastry, filled with sweet ricotta cheese and flavourings. I used to watch Cake Boss and always wanted to try one.
So when we found this place that made gluten-free cannoli—I ordered dessert first. I was like, “I don’t care what I have for main. I’m having cannoli!”
[00:38:58]
Zoe Devenport: There are a few Italians in Chester that’ll make gluten-free pasta—but it’s usually a separate thing, just for one or two dishes.
Whereas that place in New York? The entire menu was gluten-free. And you couldn’t tell.
Darren Jamieson: So you didn’t notice any difference in taste or texture?
Zoe Devenport: None. I’ve had friends eat gluten-free stuff without realising. I only buy gluten-free pasta at home now—Craig’s son Ben eats it and has no idea.
It’s just food. It’s fine. It doesn’t taste weird. You just get used to it.
Now, if I could have one day where it wouldn’t affect me? I’d eat an entire pack of McVitie’s milk chocolate digestives. And a giant tiger loaf with loads of butter. Those are my two cravings.
I miss Weetabix and Shreddies too. They do sell gluten-free Weetabix, but it’s like £4.50 for a box of eight—and if I don’t like them, that’s money wasted.
I make a lot of my own cakes—scones, traybakes… I haven’t mastered bread yet, though. My sister’s brilliant at it. She’s got all the formulas down: the perfect flour blends, hydration ratios, rise times… I just throw everything in and hope for the best.
I made a lime and coconut loaf last weekend—it was lovely. My grandson had the last slice. I was not happy.
Darren Jamieson: When you went to New York, you said it was easy to find places to eat. But what about other holidays?
Zoe Devenport: Yeah, New York and London are great for it. Big cities usually are.
We’re going to Poland soon—I’m already researching where I can eat. Abroad, it’s often better than here.
But on package holidays? Beach resorts? Total nightmare. You get the buffet setup, and sure, there are little signs that say “contains wheat” or “contains dairy”—but dessert is always jelly. Or ice cream.
And I love dessert. Like, properly. I’ll choose my entire meal based on what I can have for pudding.
Darren Jamieson: Nothing wrong with that!
Zoe Devenport: Salted caramel cheesecake. That’s the dream.
Darren Jamieson: Have you ever been to The Cheesecake Factory?
Zoe Devenport: No! I didn’t know there was one in New York.
But we did go to a place called Friedman’s—there’s about four of them in Manhattan. Everything is gluten-free, and they’re brilliant. The first time we went, we practically ate there every day because I felt so safe eating there.
Darren Jamieson: So what would you like to see supermarkets like M&S and Tesco do going forward?
Zoe Devenport: Honestly? Just go back to pre-COVID levels of choice. That would be a huge win. More fresh gluten-free options in fridges and freezers.
At M&S, for example, I used to get pizzas, garlic bread, fishcakes, chicken nuggets. There were multiple flavours of fishcake, and they even had a giant gluten-free apple pie. It was incredible.
Now? Gone. Barely anything left.
If you go to a bigger store, there’s usually more range. But smaller stores, like the one in Broughton Retail Park? It’s rubbish.
[00:44:35]
Darren Jamieson: Do you think it’s purely a cost thing? That supermarkets are ditching gluten-free stuff because it’s more expensive?
Zoe Devenport: Yeah, I do. Either that or they’re giving shelf space to stuff that sells better—like plant-based foods.
But honestly, veganism is mostly a lifestyle choice. Coeliac isn’t. It’s medical.
During COVID, people were buying gluten-free pasta and lactose-free milk because that was all that was left. But some of us need those things. I remember seeing someone grabbing lactose-free baby milk and I wanted to scream, “Please don’t take that unless you have to!”
Darren Jamieson: I’m going to admit something here… even though I’ve taken the mick out of vegetarians for the last hour… I drink almond milk. Not a choice—it’s just what I’m given. I actually like it.
Zoe Devenport: Same! I like almond milk too. But it’s so expensive now, and hard to find. All I see in shops is oat milk, rice milk… not the same. Almond’s disappeared!
Almond milk’s light, creamy… rice milk’s thick and beige. Not for me.
A small gluten-free loaf? Easily three times the price of a regular loaf. Weekly food shops are a lot more expensive.
But—did you know—you can get gluten-free bread on prescription?
Darren Jamieson: Wait, what?! From a pharmacy?
Zoe Devenport: Yep. Crackers, flour, bread—all on prescription. But good luck getting your doctor to actually do it. It gets sent to your chemist like any other medication.
I’ve tried it once. My dietitian sorted it. They send you the stuff they want you to try—different brands, different styles—but most of it is… well, it’s all the stuff you don’t want to eat if you’re trying to lose weight. Bread, biscuits, crackers…
And like you said earlier, bread bloats you. Even gluten-free bread can. I buy it in phases—I’ll be obsessed with toast for a few days, then I’m done with it.
If I buy biscuits, I have to eat them. I don’t have willpower. They don’t last. I don’t understand people who say, “I’ll just have a couple and put them away.” Nope. Once they’re open—gone.
Darren Jamieson: Allan’s the same. Upstairs—opens a packet, demolishes it.
Zoe Devenport: Exactly. Just don’t buy them. That’s the only way. If I know they’re in the cupboard, it’s game over.
Restaurants need to do more—not necessarily by adding more gluten-free options, but by actually advertising what they can do.
Darren Jamieson: Yeah, it’s basic marketing. They think they’re only losing one customer, but in reality, they’re losing everyone in that person’s group. If you advertise it, people will come.
Zoe Devenport: Exactly. There are groups online—local coeliac support communities—where people share restaurant tips. If you say you’re gluten-free friendly, we’ll talk about it. You’ll get more business.
I’ve never called a place to complain. Even when I’ve been sick after eating out. Some people do—but I don’t. I know it’s hard. Accidents happen.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t kill me. But it does ruin my evening, and sometimes my whole week.
Darren Jamieson: So, if someone listening wants to get in touch with you—maybe about accounting… or volcanic toilet disasters—how do they do that?
Zoe Devenport: You can find me on Facebook or via our website—you guys (Engage Web) built it, actually! My mobile and office numbers are on there. If anyone needs help, I’m happy to chat.
Darren Jamieson: Zoe, thank you so much. This has been… well, I usually say it’s been a pleasure. But this? This has been interesting.
Zoe Devenport: [Laughs] Thank you!
