A new survey* of craft bakers on bread buying habits, conducted in April, has highlighted some positive changes to shoppers’ bread buying habits over the last year, as well as the types of bread proving most popular amongst consumers.
The survey of CBA members showed that 31% of bakers reported sales of all types of breads increasing in the last 12 months. 1 in 3 bakers saw a 20% increase in bread bought over the weekend specifically, suggesting that many shoppers view the weekend as a time to ‘treat’ themselves to freshly baked loaves.
The survey results indicate that white bread remains the most popular, with 66% of bakers saying white bread held the highest percentage of sales, but 30% have also seen a growth in the sales of ‘healthy’ bread in the last 12 months. Many CBA members are taking advantage of the continued popularity of speciality breads. 71% of bakers already offer a variety of speciality breads, such as sourdough and multi-seed breads, and a further 34% plan to introduce them this year. For obvious reasons relating to contamination risks, gluten free breads are not offered by the majority of bakers.
CBA Director of Operations Karen Dear commented on these results “It’s great to see such positive results in general for all bakery, along with a growth in interest in speciality breads. This is very much an ongoing trend and which we expect to see continue for months to come.”