There is still time to listen to the British Baker webinar, held in conjunction with bakery ingredients supplier EDME.

Listen as the experts discuss whether the declining bread market could be saved through innovative packaging and marketing. 

That was just one questions experts answered in British Baker’s webinar with Malt specialists Edme and researcher Mintel, who discussed the bread market, use of whole grains and provided insights into the sector.

Edme’s technical director Simon Wooster, sales manager James Smith and Mintel’s senior food and drink analyst Richard Ford all alluded to the decline of pre-packed sliced bread - a trend that is set to stay as consumers look for convenient on-the-go products such as porridge pots and breakfast bars.

However, when analysing the nutritional value of popular breakfast items, wholemeal bread with butter and jam (292 calories, 6g fat and 5.7g fibre) compare favourably with many other options such as a cereal bar (471 calories, 27g fat and 5g fibre) and a porridge pot (379 calories, 7g fat and 7g fibre).

“Bread has had a lot of negative press,” said Smith. “As an industry we can re-educate and dispel some of these myths, as we have started to do. There is an opportunity for us to reinvent and reinvigorate the market with different ideas on packaging. It is the way the product is presented with interesting ingredients that make people want to buy.”

Wooster agreed that marketing is key and now it is ‘easy’ to incorporate many ingredients in bread, such as high fibre, high protein and omega 3 - all of which are healthy ‘buzz words’ to the consumer. Meanwhile, the whole panel agreed that the rise of gluten-free over the last 12 to 18 months is likely to continue, if the drawbacks can be overcome.

“It is still a niche market but has been thrown open recently and the products have such a higher price, which is a major barrier,” said Ford.

Smith agreed: “The holy grail is to get a gluten-free bread to stand up and act as a white or brown - do that and keep a clean label and you have a chance of taking over the market.”
The panel agreed that the immediate future of bread will include more gluten-free innovation, portable and convenience products and updated packaging.

Visit the website to listen to the entire webinar.