Are people willing to pay more for bakery products with functional benefits?

16 November 2022 Market trends

Bakery brands have to cope with many challenges, like the rising costs of raw materials but also global price of wheat, oil and  costs of energy. How can they minimize costs and maximize profitability?

One of the solutions could be the change in the recipes of the products. Mintel’s research claim, that for 63% of customers in West Europe when choosing bread products - the priority is the taste. Also for 51% customers from USA  the freshness and taste are the most valid.  When the producers convince their clients, that in the case of ingredients change, they will keep the same  properties, the same or even better taste, it can be a great idea.
The next step is client’s education on the reality of ingredients supply. Customers in many countries are interested in bread made from local products. Choosing the ingredients from the local suppliers means  the care about domestic markets, as well as support home producers.
And finally, using a fiber in the ingredient’s recipe brings a lot of profits. Fiber doesn’t change the taste of the bread, as well as improves the texture and the freshness. As we can see in the last Mintel report, functional benefits of the bread, like proteins, fiber, prebiotics, are desired by the customers all over the world. According to Mintel’s data, 53% of the customers in Asia are willing to pay more for high fiber bakery products. 

Our R&D Department has proved, that fiber addition  improves nutritional profile, has a positive impact on texture, yield and freshness of the bread. The bread remains in the same condition for a longer time on the shop shelves.  Customers are satisfied having the products that won’t be wasted. Bakery producers must consider those statistics if they want to survive on their markets. 

To sum up, it seems that making recipe changes, using ingredients from local farming, and communicating about health benefits of fiber addition can be possible strategies for bakery producers. Those activities bring benefits, both to producers and their customers.