Fibre interest to benefit bread market
trend but the bakery sector could do more to capitalise on the
rising interest in fibre and wholegrains, suggests an analyst.
Sin Hui Chew, research manager for the global packaged food industry at Euromonitor, believes that bread with high fibre could be one of next year's trends in the bakery industry.
"Fibre is a big issue and breads with high fibre could be the next trend. It is certainly something that manufacturers are turning their attention to," she told NutraIngredients.com.
This is perhaps a result of the recognition that promoting the healthy ingredients in bread could gain more sales than a reduction in components like salt and carbohydrates, which have a major impact on taste.
Chew noted while some manufacturers have focused on reducing the salt content in the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden for example, these products have a tiny percentage of the overall market. In France, such breads make up a mere 0.1 per cent of sales.
Reduced carbohydrate breads have had a similarly low penetration of the market.
"Bread itself has a good image as a healthy product and is not something that people have a lot of resistance too. Negative impact on sales comes more from changing eating habits like the decreasing amount of time spent at the breakfast table than trends like Atkins," continued Chew.
But the low-carb dieting trend will leave consumers with greater awareness of carbohydrate types and the benefits of wholegrains over refined carbs on heart health. Several ingredients firms have expanded sales of high fibre ingredients in the wake of this trend.
