Baking & Snack - February 2020 - 10

editorial
What can bread learn from the little black dress?

On New Year's Day, I tried to clean out my closet ... gave
it the old "New Year, New You" effort. But I was caught between the life coaches who remind us to purge anything
that hasn't been worn for a year and the style historians
who say the trends will cycle back around in two decades.
I froze and kept everything. So, this is how I end up
with innumerable little black dresses. On the upside, it
was like "shopping" in the back of my closet, and the old
pieces seemed new again.
Thinking of fashion makes me think about food. From
butter to carbs to protein, food trends run like waves in
the court of public opinion. All it takes is one influencer
uncovering a new study, and certain foods will fall in and
out of favor. Just look at Atkins: After reaching a pinnacle
in the early 2000s, it's making a comeback with Rob Lowe
as the spokesperson ... and it now includes bread (low
carb) on the menu.
But it looks like the cycles have been turning for
much longer. I recently met a gentleman named
Richard Charpentier, owner of Baking Innovation,
a consulting firm based in Philadelphia. Mr.
Charpentier has worked in R&D for companies including Hostess and Flowers Foods,
and today, he tracks trends the old-school
way: by reading books. One of his most recent
reads was written in French in the 1700s, and it
turns out, Mr. Charpentier told me, Celiac was a
known disorder even in mid-century France. The
prescribed treatment? Sourdough.
Today, sliced pan bread is suffering from flat and
declining sales, the likes of which the market hasn't seen
in, well ... ever. That sparked a couple questions around

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10 Baking & Snack February 2020 / www.bakingbusiness.com

the Sosland Publishing water cooler: Why is it happening? And how can baking companies turn it around?
We embarked on a project to find the answers, and last
month, Baking & Snack launched a new podcast, Since
Sliced Bread, that celebrates that past, present and future
of commercial baking.
In the inaugural episode, Josh Sosland, editor of Milling
& Baking News and Sosland president, noted that while
there has been an influx of fad dieting over the past couple of decades, there has also been less innovation than,
perhaps, over the past 50 years.
Mr. Charpentier agreed. While there's no denying the
downturn in sliced bread consumption, the opportunities for reinvigoration could very well be hiding in the
old standbys. Mr. Charpentier emphatically believes that
innovation is key. But while bakers should think beyond
new flavors and line extensions, there's really no sense in
trying to reinvent a food that's almost as old as the wheel.
By looking longitudinally at bread consumption, bakers
can track some interesting habits. Or they can seek innovation through ancient grains and classic ingredients ... and
then turn the whole thing on its head. After all, there was a
time when sliced bread itself was the next big thing.
Fashion trends typically start with the classics. Experts
say it all begins with a basic piece - a little black dress -
upon which the real innovation is built. I doubt we'll find
the next big thing (in food or fashion) in the back of my
closet, but perhaps the key is hiding somewhere in history or in your archives.
After all, if Dr. Atkins came back around, so can we.
- Joanie Spencer, editor
jspencer@sosland.com

EDITORIAL
Editor
Editorial Director
Managing Editor
Senior Editor
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Associate Editor
Contributing Editors:

Joanie Spencer
Dan Malovany
Nico Roesler
Charlotte Atchley
Anna Wiber
Karlee Renkoski
Donna Berry
M. Hikmet Boyacıoglu

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Baking & Snack - February 2020

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