Budget-wary students in the UK still consider sweet bakery items to be an affordable luxury, new research has revealed.
European supplier Baker & Baker partnered with Sapio Research on an online survey of 50 businesses selling sweet bakery products to higher education institutions alongside in-depth interviews of a select number of catering decision makers. The results were published in the latest edition of the Bakery Bites report series, entitled ‘The appetite for sweet bakery in the Higher Education Space’.
The survey found that 81% of students claimed to feel the economic impact of bakery indulgence such as cookies, muffins, and doughnuts, but also had 63% admitting to making multiple purchases of such items per week.
Were sales on the up? It depends on the institution with the research reporting 24% of education organisations to have experienced a decline in revenue of sweet bakery while more than a third (38%) saw an increase.
UK Home Office data from 2024 showed 16% fewer study visa applications had been made compared to the previous year. In reaction, 52% of survey respondents were expecting the drop in international students to have a negative impact on sweet bakery trade.
To help drive sales at universities and colleges, a variety of tactics were being employed. Most popular were price reduction (66%) and drink promotions (62%), while seasonal/themed activity (44%), poster ads (34%), and POS around campus (32%) were also adopted. Direct digital marketing to students (22%) and digital ads (18%) may have the lowest usage rates at present, but the report noted that the role of digital in the future had been highlighted by a number of respondents in the qualitative part of the research.
When it came to deciding which products to sell, 62% of bakery businesses put dietary preferences such as vegan and gluten free as one of the most important factors. Other top considerations included cost (48%), supplier reliability (46%), and popularity/brand (44%). Catering decision makers, meanwhile, revealed they were willing to spend a little more if a number of these factors could be met at the same time.
Soaring costs for energy and ingredients, as well as increases to National Insurance contributions, had 46% of bakery businesses saying they were now employing less staff, 38% were turning off heating, 34% were moving away from frozen and chilled and towards more ambient lines, 30% were reducing opening times, and 30% were cutting down on bake-off.
“With the challenges facing outlets selling sweet bakery in the university sector, it’s important that decision makers remain flexible and respond quickly to market changes to remain competitive – whether that’s what products to stock and ways to control costs through to marketing methods to maximise sales”, commented Helen Sinclair, UK marketing manager at Baker & Baker.
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