inStorebuyer - May 2011 - 64

What’s Happening in Bakery
A look at the new FreshFacts Shopper Insights powered by Spire reveals that the household penetration, or the number of shopper households that purchased a bakery item in 2010, is a healthy 92%, comparable to other fresh departments. Yet shoppers are only buying from the bakery 12 times per year, and this purchase frequency is declining. No bakery category captured more than 60% of households in a year, and nearly all declined in household penetration. Only about one in 10 households buys more than one bakery item in the same trip, even though bakery products can span a variety of eating occasions. For comparison, more than one-quarter of meat buyers pick up multiple meat products in a shopping trip. Breads and rolls, a category with an advantage due to its everyday eating occasion, has the highest household penetration and repeat purchase rate of any bakery category. Along with overall category sales, dollars spent on breads/rolls per shopping trip were up in 2010, as a shift toward artisan and specialty products continued to diversify assortment and appeal to a broader consumer base. However, just 3% of households purchased more than one bread or roll item in a single shopping trip, revealing an opportunity to remind consumers that breads and rolls can fit into multiple eating occasions. A larger challenge is affecting desserts. Trip statistics show that

desserts are bought for specific occasions, and are therefore not purchased on an everyday basis. In 2010, desserts had healthy household penetration of 74%; however, 95% of those shoppers limited purchases to just one dessert item at a time. Even as retailers added more items in smaller portions, such as individual desserts and cupcakes, purchase frequency remained low. To grow the purchase rate of desserts, it is important to understand which flavors, sizes and variations are effective in drawing new shoppers or encouraging multiple and more frequent purchases. Pies is likely the most-watched dessert this year, as retail shops and restaurants feature the traditional treat in new and creative ways. If 2011 is to be the Year of the Pie as predicted, there will need to be an increase in the number of times consumers purchase pies from supermarkets throughout the year – currently just twice per year, with 30% household penetration. The breakfast bakery’s strength is that it spans both sweet and savory flavors; yet, with 63% of households buying, the category lags behind desserts and breads/rolls. There is an opportunity to understand who these breakfast buyers are and what other items they purchase throughout the store. Through loyalty card analysis, strategies can even be tailored based on what day of the week and time of day that breakfast bakery purchases

are made. With the cost of inputs and labor rising while shopper penetration rates are low, it may appear that the bakery is not staged for growth this year. But with nearly every supermarket shopper purchasing from the instore bakery at least once a year, it’s a matter of enticing an existing but infrequent customer base to see the bakery as essential for their everyday shopping needs. Examine strategies around merchandising, assortment, flow of consumer traffic, rotation of products in promotional plan, and mix of products in ads to identify opportunities to engage consumers differently and break them out of the patterns of purchasing bakery items on a few-and-far-between basis.

Healthy Breads on the Rise
Trends show healthy breads, ethnic fare, and epicurean desserts are now mainstays of the bakery product lineup, according to the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association. Interest in breads with a healthier profile is accelerating: whole-grain bread consumption climbed 37% from 2009 to 2010, and consumption of value-added bread, such as iron-fortified, high-fiber, and crustless, rose 28%. Artisan breads made with locally sourced ingredients are also popular as they contribute to attributes of freshness and authenticity. Decadent desserts, such as elaborate cakes and cupcakes, have been made even more appealing in

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inStorebuyer - May 2011

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