Milling & Baking News - March 15, 2016 - 32

Bread Product Perspective X

Top 10 fresh bread vendors

Fresh bread total
1. Grupo Bimbo
2. Flowers Foods L.L.C.
3. Campbell Soup Co.
4. Aunt Millie's Bakeries, Inc.
5. Lewis Bakeries, Inc.
6. United States Bakery
7. Pan O'Gold Baking Co.
8. Aryzta L.L.C.
9. Dave's Killer Bread
Private label

Dollar sales
% change
Current from year ago
$9,089,918,861
0.5%
$2,361,386,434
-2.8%
$1,752,571,246
3.5%
$679,700,350
1.7%
$193,024,942
1.6%
$177,633,472
0.2%
$150,512,212
8.8%
$111,032,307
2.2%
$106,553,782
-3.6%
$89,741,404
33.0%
$2,087,353,505
-3.4%

Unit sales
% change
Current
from year ago
3,876,342,570
-1.2%
851,624,340
-5.4%
671,199,914
3.7%
200,268,387
1.0%
95,234,588
1.6%
93,778,446
-0.2%
62,440,326
10.3%
39,992,015
3.1%
32,443,435
-0.8%
17,529,921
26.6%
1,353,064,870
-3.8%

52 weeks ended Jan. 24, 2016
Total U.S. multi-outlet w/c-store (supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, gas/c-stores, military commissaries and select club and doller retail chains)
Source: Information Resources, Inc.

bread had not been where the trends
have been going. Now consumers
want the taste and experience of white
bread. It is more of an indulgence.
"Our target with Extra Grainy
is not the organic bread consumer,
whose primary benefit they are seeking is organic. With this, we are looking at people who don't want to pay
the price for organic or see 'organic'
as among the primary characteristics
that attract them. But they are looking
for the taste experience you can find
in a number of organic varieties currently on the market."
Suggested retail price for Extra
Grainy is $3.99 in most markets, versus $4.99 to $5.99 for Eureka! Organic bread.
Robust launch plans for Extra
Grainy have been put together, premised on test market data showing
high repeat purchases, Mr. Morris
said.
"The challenge is to get consumers
to try it, with its heavier texture," he
said. "We are determined to get as
much trial as we can through media,
coupon and sampling events with
customers."
B.B.U. also is looking to position the
company more favorably in the whole
wheat bread market. Late in 2015,
the company introduced a new and
improved 100% whole wheat variety
under its Arnold, Brownberry and
Oroweat brands.
"We conducted consumer research
and blind taste tests," Mr. Morris said.
"They preferred our new version to
the previous variety and to the competitive set of whole wheat bread. It's
slightly sweeter. A little more richly
textured. Nowhere near the graininess
32 / March 15, 2016 XMilling & Baking News

of Extra Grainy or Eureka! but more
than in previous versions.
"It has been well received. 100%
whole wheat also had been a commoditized category. We had seen
declines, but this has helped us stem
those declines."
The move away from whole wheat
bread across the category has been significant, Mr. Morris said.
"Arnold, Brownberry, Oroweat
- premium breads - have been a
little challenged on the whole grain
side," he said. "We have been trying
to launch differentiated varieties, but
the category has been trending downward 6% to 8% per year."
Against this backdrop, white
bread demand has been strong. He
said the company's premium
white varieties, potato bread
and buttermilk have been
experiencing gains of
6% to 8% per year.
Steps the company
has taken to capitalize on
this shift include the introduction last year of
Artesano.
"It's a soft textured
white bread," Mr. Morris said. "It has been
doing very well and
taps into the white
bread resurgence. The
bag is unique - almost a steamed look
of a freshly baked loaf.
It has thicker slices
and makes incredible
French toast."
The product originated in Grupo Bimbo's baking business in

Colombia and found its way into the
B.B.U. innovation pipeline.
"A new white bread that has the
soft texture and rich flavor your family will love," is how B.B.U. describes
Artesano on the packaging.
Still another way in which B.B.U.
has been trying to build its U.S. bread
business has been in the breakfast
bread category.
"Breakfast breads are doing really
well," Mr. Morris said. "We recently
introduced a new line of swirl bread
under the Thomas banner. We've had
our toe in the breakfast category in
swirl for many years. Now, we've relaunched and improved the quality to
be more competitive against others."
New direction for swirl bread
Pepperidge Farm, Inc., the leader
in the swirl breakfast bread category,
moved in a different direction last
year with the introduction of "cheese
breads" in three varieties: cheddar potato bread, 3 cheese Italian bread and
Asiago cheese bread. Loaves began
appearing on supermarket shelves in
the second half of last year in certain
markets.
"The cheese bread line allows consumers to elevate their everyday sandwiches with restaurant-inspired cheese
flavors," Kristin Cagney, senior specialist, communications at Pepperidge,
told Milling & Baking News in December 2015. "The target is a consumer
who is looking to make their ordinary
sandwich extraordinary from the convenience of their own home."
The hearth-style bread is sold in a
14-oz half loaf and priced at $3.99
per loaf. Each slice of the cheddar, for example, contains 120
calories, 0.5 grams of saturated
fat, 270 mg of sodium and 3
grams of sugar.
Ms. Cagney said promotions
associated with the launch of
the new Pepperidge cheese
bread line have varied by
retailer.
Kids as organic opportunity
An organic entry in the
children's bread market
represents an attractive opportunity, said Mr. Garfinkel of Hain Celestial. Before
Rudi's Organic Bakery introduced Kids Soft White
and Kids Soft Wheat bread,
the organic bread category
had no products specifically
targeted at children. Leading
non-organic bread targeted
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - March 15, 2016

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