Milling & Baking News - February 24, 2009 - 30

Bread Product Perspective

previewed in December by
Sara Lee Fresh chief executive officer James Nolan (see
story in Milling & Baking News
of Dec. 16, Page 17). While Mr.
Nolan discussed how the industry should think about working together with retailers
to encourage stocking bread
on shelves by day-part category to make shopping
easier for consumers, Mr.
Zimmer focused on starting
immediately with the Sara
Lee varieties. The company
has taken steps to make it
easier to distinguish between the various Sara Lee
varieties offered.
"We spent two years
studying packaging in
this section of the store
to figure out how we can
make it easier for shoppers to find our products," Mr. Zimmer said.
"I think when you look at
this section of the store, the
number of brands on the shelf, the
amount of duplication, it's challenging for shoppers to find the products. They've been buying products
they buy habitually. We want them
to find variety and make it easier."
In particular, the company has
"cleaned up graphics" to make it
easier for consumers to find the
bread they want.

"The whole package has
been redesigned," Mr. Zimmer said of its Sara Lee line.
"It isn't just the gusset, which
is extremely important. The
point is to be sure consumers
understand the distinction
between products and
identify the ones that fit
their needs.
"With
the
graphics cleaned up, there is
real separation between
brands and sub-brands.
It is easy now to distinguish between Soft &
Smooth and Classic. It is
easy to see the benefits of
the products."
Because of the limited
amount of space on the
gusset to communicate
such benefits, Sara Lee
queried consumers about
which benefits are most
important to see, Mr. Zimmer said. For instance, the
Soft & Smooth line highlights the whole grain, calcium and
vitamin D content. Also on packages
is a Nutrition Spotlight graphic that
highlights key nutritional benefits.
"The point is to have easy-to-read,
call-out graphics with key nutritional information," Mr. Zimmer said.
"The objective is to help consumers better understand the overall
health benefits of bread, keying in

on nutrients of particular concern.
For mothers, those concerns tend
to be calcium, total fat, sodium and
sugar."
To help consumers better connect
with the Sara Lee brand, the company has launched what Mr. Zimmer
described as "ground breaking programs and promotions." Most notable was the company's High School
Musical 3 promotion.
"We have the DVD hitting stores
now," he said. "This piece of innovation relates to how we are connecting with the consumer in the store
and out. It has people thinking differently about this category. I think
it puts our products into a different
mindset. It takes it from just thinking of it as bread to something more
involving. With High School Musical, we connected with consumers
in lots of different ways."
For example, Sara Lee conducted a
public relations campaign in which
school students were able to send in
videos that encourage their peers to
eat whole grain bread. Corbin Blue, a
star of the movie, visited and served
lunch at the school of the student
with the winning submission.
"This kind of program is different
than product innovation," Mr. Zimmer said. "We are looking for ways to
innovate the category and change how
people think about bread every day."
In selecting a promotion such as
High School Musical, Mr. Zimmer

Top 20 bread vendors
Dollar
sales
Sara Lee Bakery
$659,864,800
George Weston, Inc.
$634,718,000
Flowers Foods Bakeries Group
$596,330,200
Interstate Brands Corp.
$573,474,200
Bimbo Bakeries
$524,384,800
Pepperidge Farm
$440,889,500
Stroehmann Bakeries, Inc.
$154,865,900
La Brea
$101,747,700
United States Bakeries
$90,387,590
Perfection Bakers, Inc.
$87,745,730
Schwebel Baking Co.
$58,397,790
Lewis Bakeries
$49,269,510
F R Lepage Baker, Inc.
$45,370,830
Roush Products Co., Inc.
$44,694,520
Martin's Famous Pastry Shop, Inc.
$36,747,770
Holsum Bakeries, Inc.
$32,009,290
Schmidt Baking Co.
$30,213,240
Pan-O-Gold Baking Co.
$27,748,830
Middle East Baker
$25,827,550
Private label
$1,810,236,000

Dollar sales
% change
versus year ago
4.9%
7.4%
10.9%
(11.6%)
2.8%
7.2%
6.2%
9.7%
4.5%
3.2%
13.9%
10.2%
5.8%
(3.6%)
20.0%
(3.2%)
24.4%
(4.5%)
15.5%
10.7%

Unit
sales
252,055,700
222,588,500
255,309,300
225,467,400
158,860,900
133,298,600
66,536,760
33,296,680
36,478,890
43,770,070
27,608,190
21,798,020
15,134,690
16,993,200
12,983,400
12,794,640
13,411,280
10,489,860
10,667,000
1,214,490,000

Unit sales
% change
versus year ago
(1.02)
(2.88)
(1.09)
(18.63)
(6.59)
(1.78)
(5.41)
1.90
(6.36)
(2.73)
2.22
1.87
(9.03)
(11.19)
(0.71)
(11.26)
15.58
(20.15)
(1.98)
(2.34)

Average
unit price change
year over year
5.9%
10.6%
12.1%
8.7%
10.1%
9.2%
12.3%
7.7%
11.6%
6.1%
11.4%
8.2%
16.3%
8.6%
20.8%
9.1%
7.7%
19.6%
17.8%
13.4%

Total U.S. Food (grocery only)
52 weeks ended Dec. 28, 2008
Source: Information Resources, Inc.

30 / February 24, 2009

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Milling & Baking News - February 24, 2009

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