New product launches help bread manufacturers build consumer buzz and increase sales, but challenges such as rising ingredient costs, labor shortages and supply chain woes all make these launches more difficult, noted Kelsey Olsen, food and drink analyst, Mintel. The company’s Global New Products Database shows that new product launches in packaged bread have declined since 2019.

However, there are other more cost-effective ways bread producers can innovate.

“In place of new product launches, brands can innovate around marketing and product positioning, emphasizing the versatility of existing products,” Olsen said. “Innovative uses for bread, rather than innovative products themselves, are a smarter strategy.”

This “innovate uses” strategy is employed by Bimbo Bakehouse, a division of Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, Mexico City. The company is considering new uses for its breads to attract different demographic groups, including younger millennials who aren’t eating as much bread, said Brandi Unchester, marketing director, in-store bakery, Bimbo Bakehouse. 

“Instead of making just a sandwich, could it be the bowl or the plate?” she said. “It’s about understanding what they are doing and what they are eating and how bread can be part of that versus trying to push the way we’re used to eating it onto that consumer.”

Each of the company’s brands is claiming its “reason to be” for consumers, she added.

“Then, we’re pulling it together with various programs so that we can create a menu of solutions for mom or dad and for the family,” she said. “You will see a lot more of those solutions from us going forward. We’re trying to drive category growth. We’re trying to tap into the millennials. We see they’re buying in-store bakery bread, buns and rolls.”

The company’s new Wholesome Harvest morning loaves, for example, are made for those “for me” moments, Unchester said. 

“That might not be for the whole family. It may just be for mom, so it comes in a smaller size,” she explained. 

Bimbo Bakehouse also aims to tap into new occasions across the day, driving more opportunities for consumers to enjoy its products. 

“We’re trying to be part of those moments like brunch where bread is a natural fit, or a casual get together like a barbecue or a ladies’ night at home where bread is part of their charcuterie board,” said Dana Strain, senior marketing manager. “How do we fit into those occasions outside of toast with your eggs?”

The snacking occasion, for example, is one the pan bread category should innovate into, Olsen suggested. She cited two products in adjacent categories as successful examples: Toronto-based Stonefire’s Naan Dippers, marketed as “snackable and packable,” as well Toronto-based Ozery Bakery’s Snacking Rounds.

“Innovation brings a much-needed balance of excitement and modernization to a familiar and well-established category like packaged sliced bread,” Olsen said. “Sliced bread can take notes from adjacent categories in innovating for more diversified occasions like snack time.”

Dawn Aho, client insights principal, bakery vertical, Circana, noted that innovations including thick and thin slices, king-size loaves and half loaves, as well as the addition or removal of certain ingredients can help sliced bread appeal to new households. 

Added protein, for example, is increasingly popular in bakery and snack launches, especially among younger consumers, said Monica Bhatia, chief executive officer of San Francisco-based Equii.

“With DIY baking trending everywhere, younger consumers also know to look for cleaner labeled products,” she said. 

Sliced bread manufacturers, especially small to mid-sized companies, can additionally go beyond the center store and into the freezer aisle, Bhatia added. 

“Stakeholder brands that have been around for decades have a virtual monopoly over the center store shelf space in many retailers, and it has been hard for younger brands to break through,” she observed. “One solution is to distribute through the freezer aisle. The freezer aisles for breads have traditionally been a very minor segment, but as innovative brands like Equii come through, the freezer aisle will get more populated.”

Rudi’s Bakery, Boulder, Colo., for example, entered the freezer aisle last year with a series of clean label Texas Toast products. 

Bhatia is also seeing a rise in par-baked breads that consumers can take home and bake fresh. 

“It’s a great easy DIY hack for the busy consumer of today,” she said. “I see that trend continuing to grow.”

Pan bread can be extremely versatile, and manufacturers must demonstrate this to consumers. Olsen said the category should showcase how bread can be customized to meet different budgets, moods, dayparts, dietary preferences and more. 

“Gen Z, millennials and parents are open-minded bread consumers with less confined ideas of uses and occasions,” she said. “Innovate with these consumers top of mind, considering that variety of use will carry packaged bread products toward growth.”

This article is an excerpt from the September 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Pan Bread, click here.