There’s been a shake-up of Britain’s favourite bread brands, as Jason’s Sourdough climbs into third place overtaking Kingsmill.
The success of Jason’s Sourdough is reflective of a wider shift in the bakery market which has seen the morning goods and speciality bread category surge forward, while wrapped bread struggles.
Data from NIQ, published as part of The Grocer’s Top Products survey, shows that £64.4m has been wiped off wrapped bread’s sales over the past year while shoppers have splashed out an additional £245.4m on morning goods, speciality breads, and wraps [52 w/e 6 September 2025].
“Shoppers are increasingly shifting from traditional pre-packaged bread towards morning goods and specialty bread segments,” said a spokesperson for NIQ.
“The bread market is highly mature and intensely competitive, resulting in volume declines across pre-packaged bread. Even strong market leaders face challenges as shoppers increasingly shift towards more specialty and premium bread types,” they added.
The data house noted that while shoppers initially enter the category through standard plant bread, they may trade up and explore other breads and flavours over time. What’s more, NIQ believes that as the cost-of-living crisis gradually eases, the emphasis on health and quality will continue to rise. This aligns with a wider trend seen in bakery which sees consumers look for added value through nutritional markers such as increased protein and fibre.
“For smaller brands, premiumisation is an effective route to differentiation,” the spokesperson added. “Brands like Jason’s Sourdough, Jackson’s, and Wildfarmed have gained distribution through their premium product positioning, which aligns closely with consumer perceptions of health and quality – a major purchase driver.”
Given the way the categories are grouped, not all of the uplift can be attributed to speciality bread, but it is definitely pulling its weight. Even more so when you consider Jason’s Sourdough alone added £42.4m to sales this year, a growth rate of 114.5%. This represented 60.8% of the branded morning goods, speciality breads, and wraps category growth for the period.
However, this pales in comparison to the £175.7m increased spend on private label baked goods.
NIQ noted that private label’s performance is “highly influenced” by inflation, meaning it “may lose ground not only in value but also in unit share to branded players in the long term”.
Warburtons wins in more ways than one
One firm which dominates both the wrapped bread and morning goods/speciality bread categories is Warburtons.
Not only does it comfortably retain its position at the top of both leaderboards, but it has done so with growth in value and volume. Its combined total sales came to £890.1m – up £22.6m.
“As the leading brand in both categories, Warburtons continues to grow steadily, driven by its range diversification strategy,” explains the NIQ spokesperson. “The brand leverages its existing market influence into morning goods and specialty bread, achieving successful relaunch of its hot dog rolls and savoury brioche, supported by strong promotional activities.”
Britain’s biggest bakery brand also went big on crumpets this year, employing Academy Award winner Olivia Colman to help drive sales.
The only minor tarnish on Warburtons’ performance over the past year is its gluten free bread sales. While the wider Warburtons Gluten Free product portfolio grew by 33.3% in value and 24.7% in volume, its wrapped bread sales saw a modest value increase of 1.5% and a 1% volume decline.
For further insights on the top brands in the retail bakery space, head over to The Grocer’s Top Products survey.
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