Focus On Bread & Baked Goods: 7 May

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Publishing: 7 May

Advertising deadline: 21 April

Submissions deadline: 14 April

Contact: Daniel Selwood (Daniel.Selwood@thegrocer.co.uk)

The Story:

Brits have spent less on wrapped bread in the past year as prices have been slashed and bread has continued its fall from favour. Yet some parts of the wider bread and baked goods market are in growth, mitigating wrapped bread’s decline. So what are the brightest spots of the market? And why does bread continue to go stale? How can it be rescued?

Key themes:

Retailers and range rationalisation: Central to this feature will be an exploration of how different retailers – from the big four, Waitrose and the Co-op through to the discounters – are approaching the bread category. How have retailers rationalised their ranges over the past year? Who’s pushing brands at the expense of own label, and vice versa?

Pricing and promotions: Bread has become a crucial weapon in the supermarket price war. What impact is this having on the market? Are prices set to fall more over the coming year? How can brands resist the squeeze?

Bread with bits: In recent months we’ve had a flurry of launches from the biggest brands using ancient grains such as chia. Some say the ‘bread with bits’ sector is a key opportunity and can help resist the commoditisation of the category. Is this so? Who’s doing what? What prices are these value added products maintaining?

Health and functionality: This will be a key focus. The feature will explore how health concerns are driving the development of ‘healthier’ bread products such as low carb and high protein/fibre loaves. Gluten free will be another focus.

Sandwich alternatives: This part of the baked goods market continues to power on, with value and volumes sales up in double digits over the past year. This feature will explore which players are enjoying the lion’s share of this growth… and who’s being left behind.

Breakfast: With bakers continuing to target breakfast with an ever widening array of morning goods, this feature will explore which direction this part of the market is likely to take over the coming year, and which brands have been most successful in the past year.

Innovation: This will be key to this feature. We will be investigating how new product development has shaped the category over the past year and what is in store for shoppers in 2016. We will be profiling four of the most interesting launches in a separate innovation panel.

Advertising and marketing: This feature will also investigate how the marketing and advertising strategies of the category’s biggest brands have evolved over the past year and how they will develop in the coming year to sustain growth or return brands to growth.