News and Trends

15 Apr 2024 --- Indulgence remains one of the essential reasons for purchasing bakery products. However, new research from Cargill reveals that consumers want the best of both worlds and expect tasty products with a healthier nutritional profile. Speaking to  Food Ingredients First  ahead of its  webinar  scheduled for April 30, 2024, Tomasz Skrzypczak, insight senior specialist, says that the company “significantly invests in consumer research to better understand and decode our customer’s consumer behavior.” “Our ‘ Sweet Delight – Decoding Consumer Decisions ’ usage and attitude research surveyed 1,200 consumers in Europe (Germany, (October 2022)), as part of a global study that included similar research in the US and Brazil,” he says. The study reveals unmet needs and motivations that drive purchase behaviors relating to bakery products — cakes, cookies and pastries. The research dives deeper than typical studies into not only what consumers say they do but the wh...

Lidl has overtaken Tesco for the largest share of the in-store bakery (ISB) market in the first quarter of 2024. The discounter’s market share climbed to 18.2% for the 12 weeks ending 17 March 2024, according to Kantar data, pipping Tesco which held an 18% share for the period. Retailer ISB % share   Source: Kantar, 12 w/e 17 March 2024 Lidl 18.2 Tesco 18.0 Sainsbury’s 13.7 Morrisons 11.6 Asda 9.7 The Co-Operative 8.0 Marks & Spencer 7.5 Waitrose 3.3 Aldi 0.7 Iceland 0.1 The discounter, which was named  Bakery Retailer of the Year at the 2023 Baking Industry Awards , has been steadily climbing the rankings over the past year, overtaking the likes of Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, which currently have a 13.7% and 11.6% share of in-store bakery, respectively. The discounter operates a nationwide bake-off operation across its stores with 40 permanently listed lines – including seeded sourdough, croissants, pizza, and pastel de natas – available via its in-store bakeries. Lid...

MAR 26, 2024   According to Délifrance’s recently launched a new bread report Prove It: Breaking Bread, the UK’s £7.8bn bread market will grow by 15% to reach a value of £9bn by 2026. But while there’s a huge opportunity for growth, retailers and operators must have one eye on current and future trends if they are to thrive in this dynamic and ever-changing market. As revealed in the report, the three key trends driving growth in the bread category include demand for specialty breads, products using clean label and regeneratively farmed ingredients, and bread that offers health benefits or caters to specialist diets. “This correlates with consumer preferences, with taste (41%) and freshness (44%) being key drivers of bread consumption,” comments Stéphanie Brillouet, Marketing Director, Délifrance. “And, more than half (52%) of consumers say they choose where to buy their bread based on the quality of products sold, that’s despite the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis.” Driven b...

  Over recent years, salted-caramel-flavoured anything has become ubiquitous in the UK, as the sweet and salty trend hit the mainstream. But is it about to be pushed from the top of the pole by the next big thing - ‘swicy’ food? The rise of ‘swicy’, or sweet and spicy, flavours “plays nicely to the ongoing consumer movement towards more diverse, exciting taste experiences – experiences that often have roots in globally inspired cuisines,” says Tom Gatehouse, senior trends strategist at food consultants Egg Soldiers. “Spicy food has become a lot more mainstream in Western culture,” adds Nina Matsunaga, chef patron of the Black Bull in Sedbergh, Cumbria. In the UK, the spicy food trend has become more and more popular as British consumers develop the confidence to explore warmer, hotter tastes. But for many, Nina adds, “getting used to spice is still quite hard.” Now, sweet and spicy flavour combinations are diversifying how Brits understand spice. ...

We've had the cronut and a multitude of other sweet fusions to come from high end bakeries around the world, but the latest has got the pastry fans excited again - the cookie croissant and it's landed in the UK. Having taken off first in Paris, apparently from Maison Louvard, a boulangerie on Rue de Châteaudun, the 'crookie' as it's become known has been going viral on social media platforms for a few weeks now. The boulangerie, voted as having the seventh best croissant in France in 2022, started selling their crookie creation in that same year, but it's not until 2024 that it's gained real traction with bakeries globally trying to emulate its success. And now that wave of interest has landed in the UK too. Renowned pastry chef Philippe Conticini, also known for his viral round croissants and giant croissants, has launched his own version of the sweet treat at his bakery in South Kensington, with his version filled with cookie dough, crushed hazelnuts and c...

03 APRIL 2024, 07:00 AM FOOD & DRINK In a world that revolves around fast-moving innovation, when it comes to pudding consumers want a fix of tradition Retro. Traditional. Old-fashioned. Nostalgic. It doesn’t matter how many times trendsetters bang the drum about ‘the next big thing’ in flavours – what the average consumer really craves is  comfort . And it’s rather ironic that what’s ‘trending’ right now across many categories of food and drink is time-honoured treats. Since the peak of the Covid pandemic, retailers and insight analysts have repeatedly cited familiarity as a key sales driver. Riding on the wings of this ‘new wave’ of interest in the classics are  ice cream  and desserts.  Kantar  reported a growth of 10% in the market during the 12 months to November 26, 2023, with the  British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF)  attributing this largely to the re-emerging trend of the ‘big night in’ as people continue to spend more on entertaining wit...