Baking & Snack - May 2021 - 38

PAN BREAD

SANDWICH COMPONENTS
SEE SALES BOOST IN 2020
Category

Dollar Sales

Sandwich bread
Peanut butter
Jellies & jams
Deli lunchmeat
Mayonnaise
Deli pre-sliced cheese

$7.7 billion
$1.9 billion
$1.1 billion
$7.5 billion
$1.7 billion
$190 million

% Growth a
Year Ago
9.1%
8.9%
13.9%
13.2%
16.9%
25.3%

Nielsen Consumer LLC, Retail Measurement Services, Total U.S. xAOC (UPC-coded + random-weight/Non-UPC) plus Convenience (UPC-coded)

Better-for-you breads
and buns that have
fewer carbs and higher
fiber are popular
especially with younger
consumers.
Schmidt Baking Co.

Family
of
Bakeries,
Baltimore. " The pandemic really helped the
indulgence side. People
realized they still like to
eat; they still like things
that taste good. If they
didn't, brioche wouldn't
be growing the way it is;
King's Hawaiian wouldn't be
growing the way they are. For us, we have many items on
the indulgent side, but it's another avenue for us to focus
on more. "
The sweet soft King's Hawaiian bread and rolls were
a consumer favorite. Sales of the brand's fresh rolls and
buns rose 12.9% in 2020, according to IRI.
" We experienced double-digit consumption gains on
our King's Hawaiian rolls and sliced bread businesses, "
said Chad Donvito, chief marketing officer, King's
Hawaiian, Torrance, Calif.
Bagels, English muffins and other breakfast breads
also posted strong gains.
" The breakfast category blew up bigger than anything
during the pandemic because people were not stopping
at McDonald's because they were not going to work, "

Mr. Sobotta said. " Our bagel bakery was pretty much
maxed out every week because of the breakfast growth. "

Banking on BFY bread
Consumers were snapping up healthier breads, too, especially those that are low carb and high in protein and fiber.
" The healthy segment had been growing but it really
jumped last year, and we're seeing this year it's still one
of our biggest growing segments, " Mr. Sobotta said, adding that the company's 647 Bread (6 grams net carbs, 40
calories, 7 grams fiber per slice) has been a good seller.
Younger generations are driving interest in healthy
products, said JR Paterakis, co-principal and senior vice
president of sales and marketing at H&S Bakery.
" Consumers are changing, especially millennials and
Generation Z, and they require more improved nutritional
attributes to the characteristics of better-for-you products,
which is product with protein, fiber, whole grain, " he said.
The carb smart breads have also been a winner for
Aunt Millie's Bakeries, Fort Wayne, Ind., as well as the
bakery's artisan breads. Taste, as always, is king.
" People are buying more bread that they want to eat
at home, and they want it to be good, " said Bohn Popp,
executive vice president of quality and brand strategy at
Aunt Millie's. " They don't want it just to be a filler. "

CONSUMERS GRAVITATE TOWARD PREMIUM BRANDS
As consumers indulge in greattasting and healthy breads, they are
showing loyalty to branded products rather than store brands and
are willing to pay a higher price for
them. It's a change from the economic downturn 13 years ago.
" During the Great Recession,
better-for-you label claims sort of
took a dive as better-for-you didn't
matter as much as value and low
prices did, " said Todd Hale, retail in-

38 Baking & Snack May 2021 / www.bakingbusiness.com

sights thought leader and principal
of Todd Hale LLC. " This is kind of a
different time. There are people not
affected at all by the pandemic, and
obviously their behaviors are quite
different than those who've lost
their jobs and continue to suffer. "
It's a trend bakers noticed as well.
" People who were working, who
didn't lose their jobs but were working from home had more money
to spend, " said Jeff Sobotta, vice

president of sales at Schmidt Baking
Co., which is a division of the H&S
Family of Bakeries, Baltimore.
" They were buying branded product
over private label because they
weren't spending money on fuel,
weren't stopping at Starbucks or
convenience stores and McDonald's.
Branded sales really took off. "
Consumers found comfort in the
familiar, which benefited premium
name brands.

http://www.bakingbusiness.com

Baking & Snack - May 2021

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