Baker Street is lauding a healthy performance of its wrapped rye bread range, with sales close to doubling over the past year.
Sales for the brand’s Seeded Rye and Rye & Wheat loaves have increased by 84.8% in value and 94.3% in volume [IRI Circana UK sales data for the 52 weeks to 10 August 2024] compared to the year prior. Its market share of the rye bread category has also leapt from from 9.7% to 16% over the past 12 months.
The promising figures were said to be driven by the increased distribution of the loaves which are currently available in Morrisons, Co-op, and Nisa stores, and online via Ocado.
Baker Street’s growth in the category is tracking well ahead of the total UK market for rye bread, which saw sales and units increase by 5.9% and 1.1%, respectively, during the same period.
The brand is part of the St Pierre Groupe portfolio, which includes brioche specialist St Pierre and the Paul Hollywood range of ready-to-bake rolls. The business, previously known as Carrs Foods, was acquired by global bakery giant Grupo Bimbo in 2022.
Lauren Meadows, head of UK brands at St Pierre Groupe, called the rye bread results “a great achievement for one of Baker Street’s lesser-known product lines”, adding that it “reaffirms the quality that we know the Baker Street rye products deliver”.
Meadows noted that the rye bread category was growing fast in convenience, which she said was “likely from top-up shoppers looking for healthier options” – a rising trend highlighted in Délifrance’s ‘Prove It 2024: Breaking Bread’ report published earlier this year.
It was also proof that consumers will opt for quality branded products, “no matter where they shop”, she said.
“The category is up 17% in value and 12% in volume when you look at convenience alone,” commented Meadows, citing the same Circana data. “The Baker Street products are driving this, up 52% value and 56% volume. We increased distribution with the Co-op 18 months ago and in turn, almost doubled our share of the rye category in convenience.”
Winning the Co-op listings helped Baker Street expand its number of c-store stockists from 2,200 to 3,700. Its other product ranges are also performing well at these shops, with Baker Street now the third largest rolls brand and sixth largest sliced bread brand in the convenience sector.
Meanwhile, Baker Street burger buns and hot dog rolls have seen significant growth at major multiples in the past year, in particular at Asda, where it has entered the supermarket’s top five list of branded rolls and grown both value and volume by over a fifth (23.5% and 21.9%, respectively).
While St Pierre Groupe MD Sarah Boddy noted the business would “continue to push” the Baker Street brand, a focus remains on its hero brand, St Pierre, with ambitions to take it global by tapping into the might of parent company Grupo Bimbo.
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