Key takeaways:
- European bakery brands entering the US need to adapt products, service models and operations to local consumer expectations rather than relying on what works at home.
- Ferrer believes frozen bakery can balance industrial scale with artisanal quality by focusing on innovation, clean label and longer fermentation processes.
- For Europastry, long-term success in North America depends on staying close to the consumer and building local production capabilities.
North America moves fast, demands rapid adaptation faster and quietly punishes anything that doesn’t keep up.
For Fernando Garcia Ferrer, this is a big headache. Especially as he’s in charge of Europastry’s North America business.
When we speak, he’s relaxed, thoughtful and refreshingly open about the realities behind the role. There’s no attempt to over-polish the corporate message. If anything, he seems more interested in explaining how things actually work than in presenting a perfect narrative.
I tell him upfront I’m not here to put him on the spot, just to get his story right. Ferrer laughs. It’s clear he’s used to the intensity of the industry but also comfortable enough to lean into the conversation.
And that’s where we start: not with strategy decks or market data, but with a simple question: What European bakers get wrong when it comes to cracking America.
“You can’t bring anything from Europe or translate it to the US market without adapting it to the local behaviours and conditions,” he says. “Not everything we produce in Europe, or in other countries, can be applicable in the US without making them a bit different or adapting them to the market.”
It sounds obvious, but it’s a point that continues to trip up European players trying to conquer the market.
Europastry has already made landfall in the market, with three factories in the US and a keen eye on consumer demands. This allows the baker to be nimble with its innovation, fast with its launches and ultimately in a strong position to meet end consumers’ needs.
Following the consumer
And if there’s one idea Ferrer returns to repeatedly, it’s that everything starts with the consumer.
“For us, the client is the key thing at the end. It’s the centre of everything,” he says. “The client is demanding very different things in terms of health, fats, proteins, whole grain. We need to adapt.”
That includes navigating increasingly vocal debates around ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and health.
“Ultra processed goods are not good at the end of the day for the health, so we need to do our best in order to protect the consumers.”
The answer, he believes, lies not in reacting to headlines but in staying close to what people actually want.
“We keep the client in the centre of our production and innovation process. We really believe in what the client wants and what is good for them.”
Premiumisation, often discussed in broad terms across the industry, is something he reduces to a much simpler principle.
“To be premium at the end of the day is to try to differentiate in terms of the quality of your product, where the product is positioned. Thinking about the client is key to differentiate both.”
That logic shapes how Europastry approaches growth.
“Innovation, which is key. Specialisation – to have a product that is ad hoc for the market. And internationalisation. The three things together make our go-to-market.”
Keeping the baker in the business
But if there’s tension in modern bakery, it’s the one between scale and authenticity. Industrial production on one side, artisan values on the other. Ferrer doesn’t see that as a contradiction.
“Frozen bakery at the end of the day is nothing more than freezing the products, preserving the quality, keeping all the attributes, giving more shelf life,” he says.
The real opportunity lies in how far the category can evolve without losing its roots. Europastry’s focus, he explains, is on pushing product development while staying grounded in the fundamentals of baking.
“We are innovating a lot in terms of burger buns, brioche bread, artisan bread. There’s still a lot to do with bread. Combining artisan with new technologies is the good thing. Baking to remain bakers at the end of the day.”
That balance between craft and scale is also what underpins pricing power in a market where consumers are increasingly selective.
“If you have a quality product, you can sell it to the market in a much better situation. If you use more protein, longer fermentation processes, clean label, you can justify that. Industrialisation is extremely necessary in a world that we are moving quicker and more volumes but keeping that baking condition helps to keep quality and price correlated.”
Lessons from the journey
Looking back on Europastry’s growth in North America, Ferrer is candid about what he might do differently if he had the opportunity.
“If we could today have six facilities, I would prefer to do so,” he says, only half-joking. “Anything made in the US in this market is absolutely relevant.
“And the second thing is the constant adaptation to behaviour of the consumers. That needs equipment, technology, understanding of the market. This process is really relevant in the bakery industry.”
It’s also something he admits he didn’t fully anticipate earlier in his career.
“Five years ago, I didn’t think product mix was as much of a must as I see today. Many things changed – behaviours, channels, products. Today, I have ideas of where the market is going, but maybe I am not fully sure.”
“Healthy products, proteins, whole grain, clean label – I think that we will see that for many years.”
Anticipating the shocks
However, there are – and always will be – external factors impacting the future of bakery. Right now, operating across borders means living with uncertainty – geopolitical tensions, shifting regulations, volatile energy markets. Ferrer doesn’t pretend those pressures don’t exist, but he’s clear about how to deal with them.
“We always try to anticipate any subject that could affect our supply chain. As we are sometimes bringing products from different countries of the world to the states, this is our main priority. Anticipation is always key and we manage deeply the supply chain network.”
It’s not just about reacting to disruption but staying one step ahead of it. Regulation, in particular, is a constant that requires patience as much as precision.
“Regulation is a key subject to bring any product from any country here. We need to understand conditions, and therefore it’s a very long process.”
Even as energy costs fluctuate and geopolitical tensions ripple through global supply chains, he doesn’t see frozen bakery as fundamentally exposed. Instead, he frames it as an industry that has learnt how to absorb shocks.
“I wouldn’t say that the economics look fundamentally different. This industry has adapted to many changes. We invest a lot in terms of equipment to try to accommodate consumption, and we use a lot of renewable energies, clean energies. At the end of the day, we try to compensate whatever may happen.”
