Bread brands can seize upon changing UK breakfast habits - Mintel
Recent research from Mintel found that many young Brits were favouring French pastries over traditional bread and baked goods.
Breakfast trends
Mintel senior food analyst Alex Beckett, told BakeryAndSnacks.com: “Younger consumers appear keen to eat a broad repertoire of baked goods, suggesting a keenness to experiment with new products and flavours beyond just toast, at the breakfast table.”
“Bread brands can capitalise on this cosmopolitan trend by introducing a wider variety of sweet baked goods to their portfolios,” he said.
Beckett added that there could be further opportunities to target the 16-24 age bracket as they were also the likeliest consumers of ‘on the go’ products.
The winners and losers
According to figures from Mintel, brioche sales rose 25% between 2011 and 2011 to £38m.
Similarly, pain au chocolat sales were up 14% over the same period to £25m.
As a consequence, some more traditional baked goods have suffered, such as English Muffins which saw a 3% sales decline over the period.
However, scones continue to enjoy an upsurge with sales rising 19% to £33m in 2011.
Speciality breads are also enjoying sales increases with Bagels the biggest gainer.
UK bagel sales soared 48% from 2010 to 2011 to £49m.
Prove freshness to boost sales
Mintel’s research found that the priority for UK consumers in baked goods was freshness, and there was less emphasis on price and health.
It found that around half of consumers would pay more for bread if they knew it was recently baked.
“This implies that there are opportunities to increase usage of bread and excite sales growth by assuring consumers of the freshness of the bread and relates to the fact that freshness – rather than price – is the most important thing consumers look for in a bread product, even in these austere times,” said Beckett.
