Allied Bakeries is looking to tap into demand for healthy breakfast and bread products with the roll-out of a new Kingsmill range.

The Kingsmill Fruit & Fibre range features a sliced loaf, muffins and bagels, which contain berries and pieces of fruit and are made from a blend of wholemeal and white flour. The loaf started rolling out to retailers this week, with the rest of the range to follow next month.

Two slices of bread or one muffin provided 35% of a consumer’s RDA of wholegrain, while a bagel provided 50%, claimed Allied. The light, fluffy texture of Fruit & Fibre set the products apart from other “sticky or dense fruited” bakery products, it added.

Allied, which relaunched Kingsmill in January, said it was investing a further £4.6m in the brand this financial year - with £2.5m of that set aside to fund marketing support for Fruit & Fibre.

With the exception of sandwich alternatives - such as wraps and thins - breakfast products are the fastest-growing part of the ambient bread market and rose 3.3% by volume and 7.3% by value [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 19 February].

“The breakfast market presents a huge opportunity,” said Allied Bakeries category director Guy Shepherd.