Baking & Snack - March 2022 - 40

TORTILLAS & FLATBREADS
line, and a very close second is
our whole wheat pita bread, "
Ms. Toufayan said. " The biggest
trends are Smart Grain and low
carb, no doubt. "
The bakery also offers lowcarb
Smart Pockets, which Ms.
Toufayan describes as a conventional
American version of a
pita bread, made with sprouted
grains like their low-carb wrap.
Mission Foods, Irving, Texas,
also offers " Carb Balance " tortillas
that come in flour, whole
wheat, spinach herb and sunMission's
Carb
Balance tortillas
earn an excellent
source of fiber
claim and have as
little as 3 grams of
net carbs.
Mission Foods
dried tomato basil. The tortillas earn an excellent source
of fiber claim and have as little as 3 grams of net carbs.
The popular line increased its sales by 26.9% in the latest
period to $307.4 million, according to IRI. Gruma
SAB de CV, Monterrey, Mexico, which owns Mission
Foods, said it plans to introduce more of these healthier
products.
" The client base we have been able to build for our
better-for-you line has enabled us to create some stable
levels of growth for these products, which is part of our
strategy to increase their composition in the portfolio
from single digits to 25% currently, " said Adolfo Fritz,
Gruma's investor relations officer in an earnings call last
October. " Our plan is to keep on pushing forward to further
expand the composition with these products, making
our portfolio even more profitable over time. "
Flour and corn varieties still dominate the tortilla category,
but producers are now offering healthier grainfree
alternatives.
Mission recently expanded its better-for-you line with
almond flour and cauliflower tortillas that are glutenfree
and vegan friendly. And Siete Family Foods, Austin,
Texas, which grew its dollar sales by 54.5% in 2021, also
offers almond, chickpea and cassava flour tortillas.
Flatbreads have been a bit slower to the grain-free
and vegan space, Mr. Kabbani noted. But this is beginning
to change. For example, Trader Joe's now offers a
cauliflower thin, a flatbread cauliflower substitute that's
gluten-free.
Toufayan Bakeries is also paving the way with its better-for-you
flatbreads.
" All of our flatbreads are naturally vegan. We're pretty
much the only vegan naan bread that's out in the marketAdapting
to
industry challenges
Tortillas and flatbreads have seen
strong growth thanks to increases
in at-home cooking and demand for
healthier products, but there is still
plenty of strain on the industry as
well. Cost increases, supply chain
issues and labor shortages remain
problematic for manufacturers like
Brooklyn, NY-based Aladdin Bakeries.
" Trucking was once a small percentage
of each transaction. Now,
it is often difficult to find carriers,
and if we do, the costs have often
increased more than we've been
able to consider in our pricing, " said
Theresa Watkinson, Aladdin Bakers'
chief operating officer. " We always
have aimed at offering pricing
stability, but this is not possible anymore.
It is frustrating for us and our
customers. Fortunately, we aren't in
40 Baking & Snack March 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
this situation alone, so our customers
have been understanding. "
Ridgefield, NJ-based Toufayan
Bakeries has faced similar challenges.
" It's becoming increasingly difficult
to get other supplies such as
bags and boxes, and a lot of that is
due to not having the manpower
in your factories, " explained Karen
Toufayan, vice president of marketing
and sales, Toufayan Bakeries.
" The cost of making a package of
bread has also really skyrocketed,
so we're dealing with a lot of issues
when it comes to pricing and
increase of costs. "
Both bakeries have managed to
grow despite these challenges, emphasizing
the importance of staying
on top of operations and maintaining
industry relationships in case
the going gets tough.
" We are certainly experiencing
supply chain issues like every
other food producer, but we have
great relationships with our vendorpartners
and have so far managed
to grow our business and maintain
100% fill rates to our customers, "
Ms. Watkinson said. " It is challenging,
but we have a great team, and
we have been able to avoid many
of the pitfalls of our competitors.
Being located in Brooklyn has benefits,
such as a good labor supply
and proximity to many major suppliers
in our region. "
Toufayan Bakeries' strong relationship
with bag and box suppliers
has helped it through recent supply
shortages.
" We're a pretty big customer for a
lot of those folks, and we always pay
our bills on time, so we find ourselves
to be a lot of times at the front
of the line when it comes to getting
bags and boxes, " Ms. Toufayan said.
" And quite frankly, we just try to
source out as many box and bag
people as there are out there. "
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