NZ Baking Industry
Trends
Organic bakery sales take tumble in UK
Organic Market Report, UK (13/04/10) reported that sales of organic bread and bakery items in the UK experienced a significant plunge in sales in 2009, down nearly 40 per cent on the previous year. Included in the decreases were organic biscuit sales which fell 19 per cent and organic breakfast cereal sales which declined by nine per cent during 2009. The UK organic standards body suggests that bread sales were hit by the economic downturn and problems with variable product quality. A key concern for 2010 is the uncertain availability of organic flour and other ingredients following on from the negative impact of a wet summer on the 2009 harvest. Meantime the Soil Association stresses that artisan bakers are producing high-quality organic products that continue to command strong support from a core of committed consumers. However it argues that industry backing is needed to maintain the confidence of organic farmers in continuing to invest in and produce organic cereals. The Director of the UK Federation of Bakers, which represents plant bakers, said that concerns over the sourcing of organic flour and other ingredients has never really been on its members’ radar as the demand for organic bread in the UK is not sufficient to warrant such investment. Plant manufactured products account for around three-quarters of all bakery products sold in the UK. Of a more concern to the Federation at the moment is that UK is still a very competitive marketplace with huge cost pressures for industrial bakers related to fuel and transport inputs and increasing insurance rates. White bread is the leading choice among UK consumers, accounting for 71 per cent of total bread consumption in the UK, with brown and wholemeal bread accounting for 22 per cent. Other bread types take up 7 per cent of the total bread market there.
Snacking study shows kids eat nearly constantly
Bakeryandsnacks.com (3/03/10) reports on a paper published in the journal Health Affaiars which highlights over eating in American Children. The researchers examined data on the eating habits of 31,337 children from four nationally representative surveys of food intake. They discovered that American children are moving toward ‘constant eating’ with three snacks a day as well as three regular meals. Snacks now account for about 27 percent of the calories consumed by children, and total daily calorie intake has risen by an average of 113 calories from 1977 to 2006. The foods targeted for this increase in snacking were salty snacks as well as candy. However the foods which remain the major sources of calories from snacks are desserts and sweetened beverages. Fruit Juice consumption has increased while snacking on fresh fruit has declined signficantly since the 1970s. In addition, in terms of grams, portion sizes of snacks have increased, but calorie intake has dipped slightly. More research is needed to find out whether this is the result smaller portion sizes, or if smaller snacks are being combined with more caloric beverages. This type of research is important in light of the fact that childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past 30 years, with about one in three American children currently overweight or obese, according to government figures. Further research will be required to identify the impact of these changes in snakcing on childrens health. Source: Health Affairs 29, No. 3 (2010): 398–404 “Trends in Snacking Among US Children” Authors: Carmen Piernas and Barry M. Popkin
Kids’ food trends in the spotlight
The major trends highlighted were:
- That children have become more independent in their food choices, but what is available to them is changing. For example, in US schools, there has been a huge effort to reduce children’s access to less healthy foods and drinks. As a result, sales of sugary soft drinks have dropped from 33 percent of vending machine drinks sales in 2003 to 20 percent today, while bottled water sales have risen, and candy is down from 22 percent to 15 percent.
- Foods need to appeal to children, while also convincing parents that they are healthy. An example of this is Cheerios, which is being marketed as heart healthy while line extensions are still marketed towards children.
- There is a trend for ‘hiding’ vegetables in foods , for example, pasta sauces and smoothies which also aims to appeal to both parents and kids, and has seen some success.
- Organic foods for kids have increased in popularity but the price still remains a barrier for many parents. Private label organic foods have helped growth in the sector, and even though there is no official definition of ‘natural’, the concept of natural is still appealing to parents.
- Comfort foods, such as pancake mix, cookie dough, mac and cheese, and frozen pizzas have risen as recession-squeezed families go out for meals less often. Also interesting that children are often preparing these meals themselves. However as the recession lifts these foods will decline in popularity.
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Vegetable Dough
Folic acid in flour
The Bakery Cafe
Labour Saving Equipment for Bakers
Wholegrain White Bread
Crustless Bread
Quick Serve Food
Gluten-free Bread
Olive Antioxidant Added To Bread
Elimination of Trans-Fat
Pumpable Sugar
New Bag Inserter
Artisan Baking
Healthy Sandwiches
Food Labels and Healthy Signposts
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e-Business
Vitamin D Bread
Hot Cross Buns Awards
World Record Lamington
New Low GI White Bread
Wholegrains and Diet
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0800 for safety
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Organic bloom
Cereals for breakfast
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Food-watch
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US bakery trends
Pork pie trends
Premium breads
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Mobile meals
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Organic snacks here to stay
Par-baking popularity
Muffin Mania
Italy says no to GM wheat
GF sells to Cargill
Acrylamide still under investigation
Chocolate price increase
Drive-through Denmark
Future of British bread
Snack attack
Halal opportunities
Chocolate prices still rising
New biscuits needed
Functional baked goods
Rice flour
Frozen cakes
Focus on Obesity
Out to Lunch
Biggest Biscuit
Supreme Pie Awards
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