Meet the social media sensation dragging bakery into its hot, high-drama era
The Donut Daddy’s latest creation shows how pleasure, heat and high drama are reshaping the bakery landscape
Cakes & pastries
Africa’s new appetite: Inside the rapid rise of convenience snacking
Africa’s booming youth population is transforming the bakery and snacks landscape, creating opportunities for brands rooted in local culture and convenience
Festive, fabulous and gone in a flash: The LTOs everyone should be chasing
This year’s festive one-offs range from a cult trifle to resurrected ‘80s snacks and a Christmas sandwich that thinks it’s royalty
The big December drop: Snack season starts now
From gingerbread nostalgia to chocolate trolleys and limited edition winter snacks, here’s what’s new this festive season
Smucker’s Sweet Baked Snacks take a hit as Hostess reset bites into Q2
The J.M. Smucker Co.’s latest results show a business broadly on track, but its Sweet Baked Snacks segment is clearly in the painful middle of a reset
Postcard from Sydney: Lamingtons, loaves & legends
Sydney’s bakeries aren’t just baking – they’re performing. From sky-high lamingtons to cult sourdough, this city’s pastry scene blends precision, play and viral energy in every bite
Baked into law: Why only Bimbo can sell a ‘donut’ in Spain
Spain’s Supreme Court has given Grupo Bimbo exclusive rights to the word ‘Donut’ – igniting debate over who owns the language of food
NPD: Feel-good snacking gets serious as brands go big on nostalgia, kindness & chaos
From colorless chips to collectible crisps and gooey skillet cookies, this season’s launches show how playful storytelling is reshaping what shoppers expect from a simple snack
Top food colour trends of 2026
Consumer desire for calm, wellness and vitality will affect colour trends in the coming year
Breaking the Christmas bog standard
Once the star of the Christmas table, the cranberry is stepping out of the bog and into bakery innovation – from upcycled seeds to tangy syrups – proving it’s anything but standard
Why Brits are ditching Christmas cake for panettone and stollen
The Great British fruitcake is losing its crown. Lighter, glossier European bakes are stealing the show – and the nation’s tastebuds – this Christmas
Christmas 2025: Sugar, spice & all things iced
From boozy puddings to glitter-dusted brownies, bakers are dialing up nostalgia, sparkle and flavor innovation to make this festive season the sweetest yet
Brewing loyalty: How coffee is powering bakery footfall
Coffee’s not just a pick-me-up anymore. It’s helping bakeries pull ahead in a slowing market
Canada’s bakers are done playing defense
The Baking Association of Canada’s new Executive Council isn’t just another talking shop – it’s a wake-up call for the nation’s $21.5bn bakery sector to stop firefighting and start leading
Halloween: The White House gets spooky, Pringles begins to glow and McVitie’s brings back Jaffaween
From the White House lawn to your local supermarket, brands are pulling out all the tricks this Halloween with glowing crisps, monster bakes and desserts to die for
UPF awareness rises but confusion reigns over what’s healthy, Non-GMO Project finds
Consumer concern about UPFs has surged, but understanding still lags far behind, according to new research from the Non-GMO Project
Pink pastries, prison bakes & purpose: October’s most meaningful bakery & snack launches
Producers are proving that good food can do good, too – turning patisserie counters pink, tackling loneliness and funding second chances through every bite
Postcard from Las Vegas: Bakeries are playing to win
In the city of jackpots and neon, the newest high rollers are made of butter, sugar and vanilla not poker chips
Diwali’s billion-dollar mithai boom goes global
Once an Indian household tradition, mithai (traditional confections) is now a global indulgence and brands like Haldiram’s are cashing in on Diwali’s sweet glow-up
From donuts to data: Dawn shows how to bake trends into growth
At IBIE 2025, Dawn Foods used a combination of donuts, data and demos to show operators how to turn consumer buzz into real-world results
From cake pops to circular economy: Upcycling gains ground in Africa
Africa’s food sector is turning to upcycling to cut waste, lower costs and build resilience amid climate and supply chain pressures
Ferrero chooses New York cupcake disruptor for spooky collab: ‘This is a pinch me moment’
For Melissa Ben-Ishay, teaming up with Ferrero is a Halloween treat. But the Baked by Melissa CEO knows collabs are more than fun – they’re fueling serious business growth
Alternative materials market strengthens as sustainability declines
As the need for alternatives becomes clearer, sustainability fades into the background
Christmas is shaping up to be a real cracker
It may be only September, but it’s never too soon to talk about Christmas. In 2025, festive innovation is set to deliver indulgence, hybrids and playful nostalgia.
Pumped for pumpkin NPD: Fall’s favorite flavor is back in force
From cookies and coffee to yogurt and popcorn, pumpkin spice is once again ruling the shelves
Betting on Donettes: Smucker’s snack strategy laid bare
Smucker didn’t spend $5.6bn on Hostess to watch margins collapse. With Twinkies under pressure, it’s cutting SKUs, shutting plants and leaning on Donettes to prove its biggest snack gamble isn’t a sugar crash in the making
Postcard from New York: Bagels, Basque cheesecakes & bakery rebels
Pastry pilgrims are no longer chasing cronuts – The Big Apple’s bakery trail now leads through cardamom-laced bánh, fung-donuts and ping-pong–shaped scones
IBIE 2025: 7 reasons Vegas will be the hottest oven in baking
IBIE 2025 lands in Las Vegas this October with fresh pavilions, global talent, big competitions and the innovations set to shape baking’s future
The snackdown: Are GLP-1s really killing snacks or is it just all hype?
Weight-loss drugs are billed as a $150bn threat to bakery and snacks, but so far the impact looks more hype than reality.
Flavor bombs: 11 snack launches that push the taste envelope
From swicy seaweed to smoky crisps and cupcake bites, these NPD show flavor is still the ultimate snack currency
Inside the $1.1bn pumpkin spice economy: Fall’s flavor forecast for 2025
Pumpkin spice still anchors autumn, but fatigue is setting in. With cinnamon, caramel and citrus surging, makers must balance nostalgia with novelty to win fall 2025
From Pringles cookies to bread in a suitcase: 15 snacks redefining fun
Beckham-backed honey snacks, Pringles-topped cookies and even a suitcase built for sliced bread — the latest wave of NPD pushes boundaries of fun, flavor and fandom
Is the Cherry Bakewell at risk? Almond shortages force UK bakers to rethink tradition
Almond shortages are pushing bakers to rethink classics like the Cherry Bakewell, swapping in clever flavor and texture alternatives to keep heritage bakes on the menu
How ‘swicy’ became the global flavor with staying power
Heat-meets-sweet has gone from a fringe experiment to a flavor found in every aisle. From hot honey biscuits to mango-habanero chips, swicy is winning over shoppers and it’s not cooling down
Egg crisis playbook for bakers: pricing, recipes, supply
As Australia scrambles through its egg crisis – avian flu, supply gaps and sticker shock – we lay out how to cut egg exposure, keep crumb and steady output
Rise and shine, it’s breakfast time: NPD to start the day right
From buttery croissants to protein biscuits and playful pancake mixes, breakfast is getting a fresh wave of innovation
How Kerry’s salt and sugar reduction tech is quietly driving its bottom line
As brands face mounting pressure to cut sodium and sugar without compromising taste, reformulation is no longer a niche concern – it’s driving real commercial gains. Kerry’s behind-the-scenes tech is helping reshape everyday foods and quietly lifting margins
Postcard from Copenhagen: Buns, buzz and the new Nordic bake-off
Cardamom-laced icons, Instagram-famous cubes and sourdough swagger – Copenhagen’s bakeries are luring pastry pilgrims from around the globe in a flaky, flavor-packed takeover
Snacks with benefits: Matcha, protein, THC edibles and functional fuel
From matcha to protein, snacks are getting smarter, cleaner and harder to resist. Here’s what’s new in the better-for-you aisle.
Almond yields could be lower than predicted
The USDA predicts an abundant almond crop for California. Growers say the number is too optimistic
Is Smucker’s $5.5bn Hostess deal headed for a legal meltdown?
The deal that closed on November 7, 2023 is now under fire as sales slump, losses mount and legal investigations heat up - raising serious questions for food‑industry M&A
Gene-edited wheat delivers a dough performance upgrade
A surprise win for bakers: by deleting the most toxic gluten peptides, researchers have made wheat safer for the gluten-sensitive – and stronger for high-performance dough
Grupo Bimbo: The $20bn bakery giant turning processed food on its head
With 99% of its portfolio now additive-free and a strategy built for a world turning against ultra-processed foods, the Mexican company is quietly reshaping the global food game
How the TikTokification of taste is exposing the Great Bakery Paradox
Bakers face the ultimate juggling act, pressurized into doing more with less – while consumers want it all, and want it now
Cakes, tarts and treats that truly impress
From plant-based celebration cakes to citrusy gluten-free bakes and playful candy mashups, this roundup is anything but ordinary
‘Braticoqueta’ bites: Snacks that channel the sassy energy of summer
Here’s a cornucopia of ‘braticoqueta’-worthy snacks and sips that flirt, slay and satisfy
Berry much in season: A strawberry-studded NPD roundup
From pink pretzels to protein-packed doughnuts, here’s your ultimate roundup of strawberry-inspired products perfect for summer snacking and tennis viewing
Postcard from Paris: Where the bakery queue is fast becoming a global trend
Bakery tourism is booming as younger travellers trade bar crawls for flaky buns and sugar-dusted escapes
Délifrance brews up fresh insight into the UK’s coffee craze
With 1 in 10 Brits hitting up a café every day, operators have to offer a lot more than just a decent flat white to stay ahead
How two UK chefs baked up a cult artisan bakery brand from scratch
Knead has become one of the South West’s most talked-about bakeries. Now its founders have brought their cult bakes to Oxford