TOP BAKERY

TRENDS
THE 2023 EDITION

Consumer
understanding
in bakery,
patisserie and
chocolate

6392 TT 2022_Key Visual - Red.indd 1

17,000 consumers
surveyed across
44 countries

Semantic AI
in 9 languages
Supported by

A global
perspective on
the food industry
today and where
it may be headed
tomorrow www.tastetomorrow.co.uk
 THE 2023 REPORT

Introduction

Amy North
Editor, British Baker

Welcome to British Baker’s Top

Bakery Trends 2023 report.
It’s got everything you need
to know about the formats,
flavours and consumer habits
set to impact the market over
the next year.
Here, we ask questions from
the serious (Will the cost-of-
living crisis impact bakery
businesses?) to the more
frivolous (Can a sausage roll
swing lure more people to
Greggs?) as we take a deep dive
into the trends likely to come
out on top in 2023.
These trends haven’t simply
been plucked out of the air,
we’ve reached out to people
from across the baking
industry, relying on their
expertise, data and consumer
research to identify them.
Experiential, tradition with a
twist and freshness are among
the trends outlined as well as
the rise of the machines as
even the act of buying a humble
loaf has been impacted by
technology. Sustainability also
remains a core trend, although
what it means to consumers
and businesses is evolving.
Notably, some of the trends
overlap while others are
contradictory (because keeping
up with consumer demands
isn’t difficult enough) which
means understanding your
customers is crucial. Take
health and indulgence, for
example. Some customers have
a clearly defined preference
but others may seek items
pertaining to one or the other,
depending on the day of the
week, time of year or simply
their mood.
There are two thing all people
want though: value for money
and delicious baked goods.

CONTRIBUTORS
Editor: Amy North
Senior Designer: Karen Palmer
incorporating Bake&Take
Sub Editor: Vince Bamford
COPYRIGHT
William Reed
Broadfield Park, Crawley RH11 9RT
© William Reed Business Media Ltd
2022. All rights reserved.

2
 THE 2023 REPORT

Top bakery trends

RETAIL

Credit: Sainsbury’s
Keep it fresh
Fresh bread is hard to beat but keeping up
with consumer demand while minimising
waste is a tall order for bakeries.
“Consumers expect fresh products all
day, every day,” says Michael Schofield,
marketing manager at British Bakels.
While “fresh bakery is a given” on the high
street, according to Baker & Baker
European CEO John Lindsay, it’s also
a driver for in-store bakeries as larger
retailers look to replicate the artisanal
experience.
“A focus on renewing and refreshing
in-store bakery offerings by the major
retailers – via new approaches, refits or
simply theatre – may be on the horizon with
the emphasis on ‘freshness’ and
differentiation from mass-produced
industrial-type products,” Lindsay adds.
M&S, which is British Baker’s Bakery
Retailer of the Year 2022, has been moving FLAVOURS

Tradition with a twist

its in-store bakeries and fixtures to front of
store to drive perceptions of product
freshness. It has also been developing
strategic partnerships with suppliers to
elevate product quality.
Freshness can also be taken into
consumers’ homes via bake-at-home
products.
“Fresh bread is a consumer expectation,”
says Julie Telfer, NPD manager at Silvery
Tweed Cereals. “Products for the consumer
to bake themselves tap right into this trend,
not only giving fresh bread straight from
the oven but the feel-good factor that they
have helped create it,” she adds.
Consumers love to look back at days
gone by with rose-tinted glasses,
which is why nostalgia has dominated
the bakery scene for the past few
years. But things are changing.
“While nostalgia has been a
key trend in the past year, today’s
consumers, especially younger
generations, are approaching
tradition with a twist,” explains Jacqui
Passmore, marketing manager UK and
Ireland at Dawn Foods. “To win them
over, bakers will need to combine old
and new and give a new twist to time-
honoured favourites.”
This includes exploring what
Passmore describes as “fresh and
disruptive” ingredients as well as
enhancing nostalgic memories.
“In the current climate, this is more
likely to be a twist or a small change
on a classic that they know rather than
something totally new or weird and
wacky that they don’t understand and
may then be reluctant to buy,” notes
Julie Telfer, NPD manager at Silvery
Tweed Cereals.
This fulfils consumers’ need for
new food experiences without taking
them too far out of their comfort
zone. Think mocha or caramel latte
instead of coffee, miso caramel
instead of salted caramel and
exploring the world of citrus beyond
lemon and lime.
It’s a tactic heavily utilised for
seasonal ranges with examples
including a Peach Bellini Trifle from
Tesco and Parmesan & Cracked Black
Pepper Panettone from Waitrose
being rolled out for Christmas, while
Sainsbury’s unveiled Orange, Sultana
& Blossom Honey Scones and an Eton
Mess Profiterole Stack for spring.

While nostalgia has been a key

trend in the past year, today’s
consumers are approaching
tradition with a twist

3

COST OF LIVING
Consumers aren’t rolling in dough as inflation bites
The cost-of-living crisis has far-reaching
implications for consumers and businesses.
In fact, it was highlighted as one of the three
biggest threats to small bakery businesses,
alongside the price of ingredients and rising
energy costs, according to recent research by
the Open University, supported by the Real
Bread Campaign and Craft Bakers Association
(CBA).
“Bakers are expecting inflation to have a large
impact on the already concerning increasing
cost of ingredients,” explains CBA director
of operations Karen Dear. “One in five bakers
predicted the increasing cost of ingredients to
be their greatest challenge in 2023.
“These increasing costs for bakeries are
expected to result in other challenges for the
sector including higher prices set for customers
and a risk of business closures,” she adds.
Some bakery owners have already made
the difficult decision to close their doors while
others seek to raise awareness of their plight as
costs continue to rise.
These challenges are affecting the whole
industry as everyone looks to safeguard in a
difficult economic climate.
THE 2023 REPORT
Top bakery trends
Bakers will need to
look at ingredient
cost saving, reducing
portion sizes and
product engineering
“This is creating a race to the bottom in some
parts of the industry where quality is being
sacrificed in favour of maintaining margins,”
believes Mario Barends, owner of Dorset
Pastry. “While the impact will be felt across the
industry, craft and artisanal bakers will be most
severely affected... The larger manufacturers
will be better insulated.”
With consumers tightening their belts it’s
critical that bakeries emphasise the value of
their wares but may need to make operational
changes to hit certain price points.
“Bakers will need to look at ingredient cost
saving, reducing portion sizes and product
4
engineering to ensure that finished products
meet consumer expectation but can still be
delivered at an affordable price point,” says
Jacqui Passmore, marketing manager UK and
Ireland at Dawn Foods.
The silver lining, for bread at least, is that
“many consumers are likely to turn to low
cost, filling carbs to maximise their budget”,
says Jorge Semiao, marketer at Lesaffre UK &
Ireland. Some, he adds, may also trade down
from eating out to eating at home “creating
a strong opportunity for innovation and
premiumisation in meal accompaniments”.
Kevin Hughes, country manager UK&I at
La Lorraine Bakery Group, is encouraged by
customer demand so far, despite some bakeries
making the difficult choice and raising prices.
“The bakery channel has already experienced
a huge hike in flour, butter and wheat
production – to name a few. That’s without
mentioning the impact rising energy prices are
having on the sector, along with soaring rent
and fuel prices,” he says. “Who knows what
the true impact will be years down the line, but
right now, as an industry, it’s about figuring out
solutions to the problems.”

PRODUCTS
Putting the special in speciality bread
Sourdough shows no signs of slowing down
thanks to a myriad of factors including its
association with healthier eating and ability to
deliver on flavour.
“We have witnessed a fundamental
consumer shift across Europe in recent years
towards ultra-rustic, minimally processed bread
with simple natural ingredients and free of
additives. And the UK is no exception,” explains
Sebastien Guibert, commercial director UK &
Ireland at Pandriks. “Sourdough bread is one of
the main beneficiaries – its real appeal is that it
taps into all three of the top consumer trends in
bakery: authenticity, wellbeing and discovery.”
Health is also a key driver of consumer
interest in sourdough.
“We will see ever-increasing popularity in
sourdough products as consumer education
grows about the benefits of eating long-
fermented bread,” explains Lee Pugh, head of
baking at the Zero2Five Food Industry Centre
at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
It’s big, and getting bigger, in the artisan and
craft bakery markets with a recent survey by
the Craft Bakers Association finding 64% of its
members sold up to three sourdough products
THE 2023 REPORT
Top bakery trends
and a further 10% planned to introduce them.
What’s more, nearly a third (29%) planned to
increase their sourdough offerings.
Major retailers are also investing in the trend.
M&S unveiled two sourdough loaves, made by
Jones Village Bakery, as part of its Collection
range earlier this year. Notably, the loaves are
made with just flour, water, and salt (and seeds
in the case of the seeded loaf) as the battle
over what is considered ‘real’ sourdough versus
‘sourfaux’ continues in the bakery community.
Tesco has also boosted its range with a
seeded sourdough among its new in-store
bakery speciality bread range.
Gluten-free sourdough and sliced sourdough
tin loaves are among those expected to gain
traction in 2023, according to Alison Swan
Parente, chair of the Real Bread Campaign and
founder of Wellbeck Bakehouse and School of
Artisan Food.
To tap into demand for this, Bertinet Bakery
relaunched its sliced sourdough loaves with
a new recipe using a range of flours and new
packaging. It also carries the Real Bread
Campaign sourdough mark on pack in a move
claimed to be the first for a major bread brand.
5
But the trend goes beyond the humble loaf,
with consumers seeking sourdough in other
types of baked goods.
“We will see formats and formulas further
evolve, as producers attempt to stay ahead
of the curve and differentiate,” adds Philippa
Knight, marketing director at Puratos UK. “For
example, we are seeing bakers incorporate
sourdough into popular formats such as bagels,
paninis and croissants, as well experimenting
with crossover formulations, such as tiger
bread/sourdough hybrids.”
Away from sourdough, there is increased
interest in speciality bread as consumers look
for something a bit different. There are clear
favourites when it comes to flavours as well.
“While sourdough has the highest share of
speciality loaves, accounting for almost 45%
of all spend in the category, there is a growing
consumer trend for new flavours,” says Stuart
Meikle, commercial director of speciality bread
supplier Aryzta UK & Ireland.
“Olive is seeing strong growth at +28%,
cheese-plus (cheese with another ingredient,
such as jalapeño) currently holds a 2% share but
is in phenomenal growth at +46%,” he adds.
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 THE 2023 REPORT
Top bakery trends
TECHNOLOGY
Rise of the machines
The robots are taking over but thankfully for
humankind they’re more like Disney’s Wall-E
than the Terminator.
“Technology in various forms will be
important in 2023,” believes Cristiana Ballarini,
CSM Ingredients marketing director for
pastry mixes. “The use of click and collect and
deliveries of products is still very popular post-
pandemic and will continue to be so.”
Investment in technology can also help
consumers maintain another habit they picked
up over the past couple of years – shopping
local. This is even more important as online
The integration of
ordering will only accelerate in the digital world,
according to the Dawn Foods Global Trends
report, which shows that 41% of European
consumers plan to order more food online in
2023 than previously. “From QR codes and
digital features is
touch screen ordering to social sharing before,
during and after the meal, there’s now a digital
as important for
component to virtually every food occasion,”
explains Jacqui Passmore, marketing manager
manufacturers
UK and Ireland at Dawn Foods.
She adds that technology presents a
as bakers
“make or break” scenario to bakers, with
many benefits up for grabs. “From delivery
7
to payment options to cues that encourage
social engagement, operators need to actively
bring technology into the eating experience to
remain relevant,” Passmore says.
But the rise of the machines is not limited to
online interactions. It can benefit the in-store
customer experience as well.
Sheffield-based craft bakery Roses the
Bakers, for example, recently installed two
digital kiosks to ease the ordering process
for its 220 customers who come in daily to
buy freshly made sandwiches. It means that,
instead of having two staff taking customer
orders, all staff can be making sandwiches,
and the customers can enjoy their lunch
breaks rather than stand in a queue.
There are many benefits to be had behind the
scenes as businesses of all sizes seek the same
ease that consumers do.
“The integration of digital features is as
important for manufacturers as bakers,”
adds Michael Schofield, marketing manager
at British Bakels. “The digital buying behaviours
of consumers overlap to their working lives,
so they expect quick and informative ways to
gather information and source ingredients.”
 THE 2023 REPORT

Top bakery trends

LIFESTYLE

Affordable
SPONSORED RECIPE

Puratos indulgence
With the cost-of-living rising, consumers
are looking even more carefully at what they
spend their money on, with luxuries facing
the chopping block. The good news for
bakery businesses is that their treats are
relatively affordable, with many predicting
they’ll thrive in the current climate.
“We really think bakers can come out
swinging on this one if they play their cards
right,” believes Adam Cohen, marketing
manager at flavour firm I.T.S. “When times
are tough, people cut big-ticket items…
Bakery is a small affordable luxury that
consumers can still enjoy.”
Think a bag of doughnuts from the
local supermarket, or a cup of coffee and
croissant at the craft bakery down the
high street. “Much like the alcohol market,
bakery can play on the affordable luxury
card and actually grow market share by
tapping into the need for cheap treats,”
Cohen adds.

Pain D’Epices
John Want, sales, marketing, and R&D
director at Rich’s, believes some of this
growth could be achieved in grocery as
consumers look to replicate their out-of-

Plant-Based home experiences at home instead.

“Bakery is well placed to fit into these
deals, whether it’s pastries to help recreate
a coffee shop brunch at home or desserts to
INGREDIENTS finish off a meal,” he explains.
Own label products could also grow
Plant-based batter their share, according to Philippa Knight,
●●Water, 115g marketing director at Puratos UK.
●●Agave syrup, 50g However, some consumers may reduce the
●●Molasses, 50g amount of baked goods they purchase
●●Tegral Satin Cream Cake Plant-Based, 250g altogether as Knight highlights the recent
●●Ground cinnamon, 0.5g Puratos Consumer Barometer research,
●●Ground cloves, 0.25g which found that 30% of respondents said
●●Ground ginger, 0.5g they were considering cutting back on
●●Ground nutmeg, 0.5g luxury, indulgent products, such as cakes,
patisserie and sweet baked goods, to try
Coating and save money.
●●Belcolade Noir Selection Cacao-Trace 55%, 1,000g
●●PatisFrance Pralirex Noisette 100%, 10g
●●Crousticep Blond, 40g

METHOD
1. Mix all the batter ingredients for 4 minutes on a slow speed with a whisk
2. Pipe 300g in a cake mould and bake for 45 minutes in a deck type oven at 160°C
with a closed damper
3. For the coating heat all ingredients to 38°C
4. Dip the cake in the coating and let it set

8

HEALTH
HFSS brings reformulation to the fore
For a long time, the HFSS regulations were like
Ross and Rachel (Will they, won’t they?)
But as of 1 October 2022, the nation got its
answer, sort of, when restrictions on the in-store
location of products high in fat, salt, and sugar
(HFSS) came into force. This means these
products, including cakes, biscuits, and other
bakery items, cannot appear within two metres
of the checkout or queuing facility and are also
banned from aisle ends and store entrances.
Restrictions on volume deals, such as ‘buy
one get one free’ and ‘three for two’, are due to
come into force on 1 October 2023.
With prime retail estate and alluring offers
to consumers on the line, manufacturers have
been reformulating existing products and
rolling out NPD to fit within the requirements of
the nutrient profiling model.
“While the long-term future of HFSS
regulations is in the air with the new
government, we have seen a plethora of
reduced fat and calorie products introduced
in the past year,” notes John Want, sales,
marketing, and R&D director at Rich’s.
“These are not just to keep in line with the
HFSS legislation, but also to cater for those
THE 2023 REPORT
Top bakery trends
consumers who want a healthier product.”
There are mixed views in the bakery world
as to whether HFSS is a necessary tool to help
improve the nation’s health, or a financial and
regulatory headache. Nevertheless, there are
opportunities to be had if you dip a toe in the
healthier baked goods market.
“This does come with a cost implication, and
at a time when everyone’s feeling the pinch
financially, this no doubt raises concerns,”
We have seen
a plethora of
reduced fat and
calorie products
introduced in
the past year
9
Credit: Premier Foods
says Kevin Hughes, country manager UK&I,
La Lorraine Bakery Group. “However, with the
health trend very much here to stay, it could be
an investment worth making in the long run.”
Examples of those already investing include
Finsbury Food Group which has launched
HFSS-compliant brand Baked. Boasting the
tagline ‘feel good cake’, the slices have been
formulated to be high in fibre and low calorie.
Pladis has extended its McVitie’s Digestives
range with lighter version Wholesense which
has 30% less sugar and 50% more fibre
than the average digestive, according to the
manufacturer.
Premier Foods also rolled out a non-HFSS
range under the Mr Kipling brand called
Deliciously Good (pictured above). The
range includes Lemon, Bakewell, Angel,
Chocolate, and Chocolate Caramel cake
variants, sold in snack packs and share
packs, along with Bramley Apple Pies and
Bramley Apple and Blackcurrant pies. The
products contain 30% less sugar, and up
to 10 times the amount of fibre than in
standard Mr Kipling ranges, and provide as
little as 99 calories per portion.
Consumer
understanding
in bakery,
patisserie and
chocolate

6392 TT 2022_Key Visual - Red.indd 1

17,000 consumers
surveyed across
44 countries

Semantic AI
in 9 languages

A global
perspective on
the food industry
today and where
it may be headed
tomorrow www.tastetomorrow.co.uk
 THE 2023 REPORT

Top bakery trends

Credit: Greggs
HEALTH

Put the good

mood in food
Nothing puts a smile on your face like a
biscuit with a cup of tea, that first bite of
a doughnut or a slice of birthday cake.
Despite this, sweet bakery items often
land on the ‘naughty’ list, meaning people
are happy to eat them but are likely to feel
guilty about it later.
No more, say those in the know, thanks to
an increased focus on mental wellbeing as
consumers take a more holistic view to their
health.
“Stemming from our intensified focus
on mental wellness, consumption of sweet
goods has migrated from something
invoking guilt, to an outlet to inspire a ‘feel
good’ moment and essential to a balanced
lifestyle,” believes Michael Schofield,
marketing manager at British Bakels. RETAIL

The key word is balance, but with
innovation aplenty and HFSS regulations
now in play (part of them at least) there’s
plenty of options for bakery lovers when it
comes to good mood food.
“As we place a stronger emphasis on
mental health and wellness, consumers
have definitely changed their perceptions
of sweet goods,” believes Jacqui
Passmore, marketing manager UK and
Ireland at Dawn Foods. “This trend will
continue in the years to come – half of
European consumers will continue making
sweet baked goods a regular part of their
routine moving forward.”
Experience matters
As delivery apps prevail, consumers
are looking for something truly special
when they venture away from the
comfort of their sofas.
Greggs is hoping a sausage roll swing,
interactive games and doughnut-
shaped booths will tick this box as it
opens its second Tasty by Greggs café
in collaboration with Primark. Asda,
meanwhile, sought to hype up its new
bread range by taking over a London
restaurant where it served a 13-course
tasting menu based around bread, and
Tesco lured bakery fans in with a hot
cross bun café.
Delectable products play a huge part
in getting people through the door and,
as would be expected, social media is a
key tool for their promotion.
“There’s a lot of opportunities to get
customers into your store and to buy
your product,” Sara Browner, market
research & insights manager Europe
& AMEAP, Dawn Foods explained at a
recent British Society of Baking event.
“We found from our survey that half of
UK consumers said social media can
influence their likelihood of purchasing
sweet baked goods.”
Browner highlighted the Pain au
Chocolat Suprême – a cream filled,
chocolate-topped croissant from New
York’s Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery
– as a baked good that had gone viral
as users shared videos of themselves
enjoying the treat.
“The key element for developing that
type of product was to make it go viral,”
she adds. “The queues were out the
door and, when interviewed, people said
they saw it online, wanted to be there
and to share it to their audience.”
Consumers want extravagant
toppings and bakers should tap into
trends seen online, adds Cristiana
Ballarini, CSM Ingredients marketing
director for pastry mixes. “Consumers
are looking to be wowed,” she adds,
so use “exaggerated terms to describe
products such as ‘extra loaded’”.

There’s a lot of opportunities to

get customers into your store
and to buy your products

11

SUSTAINABILITY
A sustainable evolution
Ignore the push to be more sustainable at your
peril – that was the message from the 2022 UK
Brand Sustainability Benchmark Report, which
found that one in four consumers have already
changed brands based on sustainability
perceptions.
The newly published report was compiled by
research technology company Glow, which said
moving to a more sustainable footprint makes
economic sense for businesses. It found a
two-point increase in environmental, social and
governance (ESG) credibility scores equates to
an additional one percentage point increase in
revenue growth. “There is no doubt a growing
cohort of consumers are making their own
impact by shedding the brands that don’t
meet their sustainability expectations and are
moving to brands that help them feel they are
making ‘micro-differences’ every day,” said
Glow CEO Tim Clover.
What sustainability means to bakery
businesses continues to evolve.
“Regenerative farming is going to be a big
bakery trend, as consumers and producers
realise the importance of the most basic
ingredient – flour,” believes Lisa Harris from
THE 2023 REPORT
Top bakery trends
food and drink consultancy Harris and Hayes.
She points to the Wildfarmed X M&S range
as an indicator of this as “mainstream retailers
are starting to incorporate previously ‘niche’
flours”. The wheat used in the loaves – which
includes Sunflower & Spelt and Wheat &
Rye variants – is grown without the use of
herbicides, fungicides or pesticides in soil
alongside plants and grasses that look to
restore biodiversity, soil, and ecosystem health.
Philippa Knight, marketing director, Puratos
UK, concurs that regenerative farming will gain
traction “given the integral role soil conditions
play in wheat production and quality”.
“According to our most recent Taste
Tomorrow research, more than half (53%) of UK
consumers now look for food produced with
care for the environment,” she adds.
Elsewhere, Baker & Baker European CEO
John Lindsay believes climate change and
carbon commitments will “undoubtedly”
remain top of the sustainability agenda, but
water management may become an issue for
many bakeries. The Waste & Resources Action
Programme unveiled a Water Roadmap in late
2021 with Baker & Baker, Premier Foods, and
12
major supermarkets, such as Asda, Sainsbury’s
and Tesco among the founding signatories.
Reducing food waste also remains an
ambition across the supply chain as bakers
seek to balance availability and freshness.
Bake-off, notes Kevin Hughes, country
manager UK&I for La Lorraine Bakery Group,
provides a solution to this. “On a daily basis
bakers are faced with a battle against waste,”
Hughes says, noting UN research that found
that 17% of total food available to consumers in
2019 went into the waste bins of households,
retailers, restaurants, and other food services.
“Bakers only ‘bake off’ exactly what they need,
when they need it, which in return, means more
convenience and a lot less wastage,” he adds.
Consumers are also getting more involved in
fighting waste in their homes and the supply
chain, adds Jorge Semiao, marketer at Lesaffre
UK & Ireland. “There are already projects
working with manufacturers to avoid waste
of ‘wonky’ products, but this trend is likely to
grow,” he says. “Recyclable packaging or ‘take
your own bag’ will be trends to grow next year.
Some manufacturers are already promoting
eco packaging solutions replacing plastic.”
 THE 2023 REPORT

Top bakery trends

HEALTH
SPONSORED RECIPE
Functional food
Lesaffre In the search for health, it’s often
about what you add rather than what you
take away.
“Recent studies have highlighted the
growing consumer interest for naturally
functional foods, seeking healthy food
solutions which clearly guide them to meet
their daily health goals,” explains Stuart
Meikle, commercial director of Aryzta UK
& Ireland. Some consumers, he adds, are
making conscious lifestyle choices to omit
certain ingredients and processed foods,
which has led to ancient grains becoming
“star ingredients” across multiple bakery
categories and beyond, he adds.
Spelt is one ancient grain “having a bit of
a moment” on the Continent, according to
Sebastien Guibert, commercial director UK
& Ireland at Pandriks, and more products
featuring the ingredient are appearing
in British bakeries and supermarkets.
Bertinet Bakery has embraced the grain,
alongside barley and emmer, to boost the
nutritional profile of its sourdough loaves.
Ingredients play an important part in
improving the nutrition of bread,

Spelt Sourdough
particularly when it comes to fibre and
protein, with growing demand for products
providing these benefits, Guibert adds.
Lisa Harris from food and drink

Bread consultancy Harris and Hayes believes

there will be more bakery products with
specific functional claims moving forward,
with The Better Bagel – marketed as having
INGREDIENTS less carbs and more protein – one example.
●●White flour, 2,700g Functional properties are likely to be a
●●Wholemeal spelt flour, 300g deciding factor in the purchase of baked
●●Water, 1,650g goods in 2023, according to John Want,
●●Salt, 60g sales, marketing, and R&D director at
●●Crème de Levain Spelt, 150g Rich’s. “Successful bakery products in 2023
will either offer full, blow-out decadence or
METHOD have a clear health or functional benefit,”
1. Mix all the ingredients on slow for three minutes, then fast for three minutes. The he says. “Falling somewhere in between will
target dough temperature is 25°C likely slip through the gaps of consumer
2. Bulk ferment for 18 hours at 25°C needs and not satisfy either requirement.”
3. Scale to 500g or 1kg loaves, mould into shape and place in well-floured
bannetons
4. Proof for three hours at an ambient temperature then turn the loaves out of the
bannetons and make decorative cuts in the surface
5. Bake on the oven sole for approximately 35-45 minutes depending on size at
240°C, falling to 220°C after steaming
6. Cool on ambient wires to preserve the crust.

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 THE 2023 REPORT

Top bakery trends

SNACKING

A savoury
snack attack
The lines are blurring at mealtimes as more
consumers, particularly younger
generations, turn to snacks for sustenance.
“As people continue to return to the office
and have busier post-pandemic schedules,
expect to see strong sales in convenient
on-the-go savoury snacks in smaller
individual portion sizes,” says Lee Pugh,
head of baking at the Zero2Five Food
Industry Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan
University.
Certain categories are well positioned to
capitalise on this.
“The trend for on-the-go, hand-held
products continues to be a key consumer
need that the savoury pastry sector is well
placed to deliver,” says Ginsters managing
director Sam Mitchell. With hybrid working
set to stay, Mitchell says out-of-home
consumption of savouries is recovering
without affecting take home sales.
“The trend for baked savoury snacks is FREE-FROM

Vegan hits the mainstream

bringing exciting new flavours and formats
to the category and is driving growth
in response to a gap in the market for
substantial savoury snacks,” he adds,
It’s something Higgidy is also leaning
into with its snacking range which includes
savoury mini muffins, and rolls, such as the
Bang Bang Cauliflower Dinky Vegan Rolls.
“Snacking formats are growing share
of the category with a lot of innovation
and more experimental flavours coming
through in 2022 so we expect to see this
continue,” says Higgidy CEO Rachel Kelley.
“We’ve also seen a shift in brands and
manufacturers moving away from
traditional savoury pastry sub-types as
part of a mission to retain younger
shoppers that entered the category
during Covid.”
Credit: Higgidy
There’s no stopping the growth of vegan
in the bakery category.
“Vegan bakery is fast becoming
mainstream as the high quality of many
vegan finished sweet bakery products,
as well as ingredients, means vegan is
no longer an ‘add-on’ to a bakery range
but an integral part of it,” says Jacqui
Passmore, marketing manager UK and
Ireland at Dawn Foods.
Dairy-free is also becoming
increasingly important, adds Michael
Schofield, marketing manager at British
Bakels, who says it’s going to become
“increasingly important for bakers to
include dairy-free products and vegan
products in their range, and see them
in 2020 carried a vegan/no animal
ingredients claim compared to just 3%
in 2018.
However, I.T.S marketing manager
Adam Cohen warns that cracks are
starting to show in the plant-based
meat market so it’s important for vegan
baked goods to taste as good as those
containing butter, eggs and more. “Poor
taste and high prices have started to
really impact the meat replacement
sector,” he says, questioning whether
plant-based bakery could follow.
Notably, negative perceptions around
the taste of vegan baked goods were
found to be holding the market back,
according to a report by Baker & Baker,

as mainstream, not for the odd few”. He which also highlighted challenges
says the dairy-free and vegan fillings around price as well as consumer
market has “exploded” of late, while confusion over the terms ‘vegan’ and
10% of cake and sweet baked goods ‘plant-based’.

Vegan is no longer an ‘add-

on’ to a bakery range but
an integral part of it

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