Can better bread build a better sandwich?

Better sandwich bread explained

• Sourdough, better nutrition and distinctive formats give sandwich makers ways to innovate beyond the filling.
• Bread must deliver consistent size, thickness, flexibility and handling alongside taste and nutritional improvements.
• Polarbröd’s European expansion combines Nordic bread formats with adaptations for local tastes and manufacturing requirements.

How much innovation can you squeeze between two familiar slices? Sandwich developers can change the filling, add a sauce or follow the latest flavour trend, but bread offers another way to improve lunch. Its flavour, nutritional profile and format can all influence why someone chooses a sandwich and whether they buy it again.

Mintel’s 2026 bread outlook identifies sourdough, fibre and protein, and global influences as opportunities for development. Innova Market Insights also reports that half of European consumers are actively looking to increase their protein intake. Bread gives sandwich developers somewhere else to address those preferences, alongside the ingredients they put inside it.

Sweden’s Polarbröd is pursuing that opportunity as it restarts international expansion following the fire that devastated its Älvsbyn bakery in August 2020. The family-owned producer reports 2025 group sales of SEK 1.4bn (approximately €124m), including SEK 856m (approximately €75.8m) at Polarbröd AB, and production exceeding 30,000 tonnes. Germany, France and Poland are its priority markets, with sandwich manufacturers and foodservice operators the initial targets.

“The conversations we are having across Europe are remarkably consistent,” says Rikard Höög, Polarbröd’s marketing and communications manager. “Sandwich manufacturers need bread that performs reliably in production, but they are also looking for ways to make their products more distinctive. Consumers increasingly expect sandwiches to feel more premium, wholesome, authentic and interesting, and the bread has an important role to play in creating that experience.”

Why the next sandwich starts with the bread

Sourdough gives manufacturers a recognisable starting point. Puratos’ Taste Tomorrow research reports that 72% of consumers believe it improves bread’s taste, while more than half say they eat it regularly. Although those findings concern sourdough broadly, they suggest developers can work with a flavour consumers already know and value.

Höög says customers’ interest also extends to lower sugar and salt, higher fibre or protein, and clean label options. Meeting those requirements would allow a bread supplier to contribute to a finished sandwich’s nutritional profile before a developer changes the filling.

A sourdough format might be chosen primarily for flavour, a fibre-rich recipe for nutritional positioning, or soft flatbread for a different eating experience. The development brief needs to establish which improvement the customer wants and how the bread will contribute to the finished sandwich.

It also needs to distinguish provenance from composition. Nordic heritage doesn’t establish a nutritional advantage, and a sourdough description doesn’t tell a buyer how much fibre or protein a bread contains. Those qualities depend on the formulation and specification.

Polarbröd is initially taking its soft flatbread expertise to manufacturers and operators, giving it a route into finished sandwiches rather than relying on shoppers to discover its bread in a retail aisle.

“Rather than trying to compete head-on in crowded retail bread aisles, our initial focus is therefore on sandwich manufacturers and foodservice operators, where the product offers both differentiation and practical production benefits,” says Höög.

Those customers already have suppliers, specifications and processes, so an alternative bread needs to justify the work involved in introducing it. A distinctive format or recipe could help refresh a range, but the supplier also has to demonstrate that the customer can use it efficiently.

“We also see genuine interest in Nordic values and storytelling, provided that these are supported by a product that delivers clear commercial value,” says Höög.

Can a better recipe survive the production line?

The production requirements become particularly demanding when a supplier offers different formats and adapts products for customers across several countries.

“Industrial sandwich production requires very tight tolerances in areas such as size, thickness, flexibility and handling,” says Höög. “The bread has to perform reliably at scale, while consumer expectations regarding flavour, texture, ingredients and format can vary considerably from one market to another.”

Those requirements belong in the development brief alongside taste and nutrition. A buyer evaluating a new bread needs to establish whether its dimensions and handling characteristics fit the operation and whether consumers will enjoy the resulting sandwich.

Polarbröd shock-freezes its bread immediately after baking, using a process it calls Polarmetoden. The company says this preserves taste and freshness without preservatives, giving its clean label proposition a practical connection to distribution. Höög sees its frozen bread and thaw-and-serve experience as an advantage when supplying longer, more complex chains, although customers still need to assess how the products perform through their own storage, thawing and assembly processes. “At the same time, the fundamentals remain essential: consistent quality, food safety, dependable deliveries and products that work efficiently in production and throughout the supply chain.”

Polarbröd’s ability to pursue these customers follows several years in which supplying Sweden took priority. The 2020 fire forced the business – whose baking roots span five generations in northern Sweden – to rebuild capacity and restore domestic supply. Replacing the bakery also allowed it to reconsider its equipment and processes.

“Starting again gave us the opportunity to rethink our production, logistics and risk management from the ground up,” says Höög. “We also added capacity for pre-ferments and sourdough, which enables us to serve new consumer segments and respond to one of the strongest trends in the European bread market.”

That additional fermentation capacity broadens the products Polarbröd can develop for export customers. Alongside its established soft flatbreads, it can pursue interest in sourdough and discuss how fermented flavours might fit customers’ sandwich ranges.

Familiar markets need fresh thinking

Norway is already Polarbröd’s largest export market. The push into Germany, France and Poland therefore expands its international reach from an existing base, with a particular focus on sandwich manufacturers and foodservice operators.

France and Germany offer Polarbröd a familiar starting point, with previous trading experience, established networks and demand for its products.

“Before the fire, Polarbröd had a much broader export business, so re-establishing ourselves in selected former markets was a natural starting point,” says Höög.

Poland is a new market, selected following research into the potential of its food-to-go and sandwich segments. Across all three countries, Höög sees demand for convenient products and formats beyond conventional sliced bread, although previous experience doesn’t remove the need to reassess buyers’ requirements.

“The first lesson is not to assume that a market is the same as it was when you left it,” he says. “Consumer preferences, competitive dynamics, distribution structures and customer expectations may all have changed.”

Grain choices, flavour, portion size, packaging and usage occasions can differ between countries, while manufacturing customers bring their own specifications. Polarbröd therefore has to decide where adaptation will improve acceptance or production efficiency without losing the qualities that distinguish its range.

“We are not trying to become a local German, French or Polish bakery,” says Höög. “We want to offer something genuinely Nordic, but in a form that makes sense to local customers and consumers.”

Sandwich manufacturing is the initial focus, but the plans extend into foodservice and selected retail markets. Over the next three years, Höög sees opportunities to introduce soft portion breads into a small number of carefully chosen retail markets, where shoppers would be buying the bread itself rather than encountering it in a prepared sandwich.

“We believe much of our range has that flexibility without losing its character,” he says.

Better bread can build a better sandwich when it improves something shoppers value. Sourdough can contribute flavour, a higher-fibre recipe can improve nutritional composition, and a different format can change the eating experience.

Höög’s account suggests manufacturers are already seeking those improvements; suppliers have to deliver them consistently through production and distribution so they’re still apparent in the final bite.