A new ‘battleground’ for retail bakeries was explored in British Baker’s web event, which saw experts discuss today’s industry ahead of an exclusive market report. 

The webinar outlined ways bakers were working within the convenience sector and considering other site locations, and marked the launch of the 2015 Bakery Market Report (BMR), compiled by British Baker.

The BMR, sponsored by Unox and Rank Hovis, offers exclusive insight into the retail bakery trade in the UK.

Patrick McGuigan, a freelance journalist, was lead researcher on the report. When talking about his findings, he said: “There are new battlegrounds for most of the major operators. Looking to open outlets within other stores is something that I think will be big for the future.”

Stephen Brown, local sourcing and diversification manager at Scotmid Co-operative Foods works with local bakeries by stocking products into branded concessions within stores. He said this had allowed businesses to develop and build the brands within sites.

He said: “We work on basis that it has to be a win-win for both. For Scotmid it bought in fresh products to the stores. Using local bakery allowed them to hone in on local base - there are lots of localised products in stores.”

Bakery was found to be an extremely important part of convenience shopping, as exemplified by Tracy Faulkner of him!, who said that one in every four shoppers who walk into a convenience store will purchase a bakery item. She expanded: “For 45% of shoppers buying bakery items, it was actually bakery that was the driver to that store that day.”

Social media

For bakers already on or considering taking to social media to push their brand, Mark McCulloch of WE ARE Spectacular gave a breakdown of four key steps to help bakers be successful online. He said: “Be consistent and be confident. You’ve got to know and understand your audience.”

He also said that one of the keys was to know when to post material - revealing some surprising information which showed that most people are online on a Sunday, when brands post the least.

You can still listen to the webinar online and, for further insight, log on to bakeryinfo.co.uk/bmr to download the complete 2015 Bakery Market Report.