Focus On Cakes and Biscuits: 15 October

Publishing: 15 October 2022
Copy deadline: 30 September 2022
Submissions deadline: 23 September 2022

Feature one: Innovation
By Niamh Leonard-Bedwell N.Leonard-Bedwell@thegrocer.co.uk 

It is time to reinvent cakes and biscuits, and suppliers have rethought their recipes and come up with new ones. Much of it is concerned with health and the incoming HFSS rules, but brands are also seeking to generate excitement as volume sales slide after lockdowns. So how can the category reinvent itself in the wake of so much change? Beyond meeting the HFSS requirements, what health benefits are suppliers touting? And what new flavour trends are being pursued?

HFSS: Suppliers have been pushing out healthier biscuits and cakes to continue making the most of impulse locations in stores. How successful are such launches likely to be?

Functional benefits: Fibre has proved a popular ingredient to add to cakes and biscuits in the past year. Will the sales figures justify such tinkering?

Innovation: Health is not the only driver of innovation in cakes and biscuits. What flavour trends and ideas have brands been trialling?

Feature two: Inflation
By Jimmy Nicholls Jimmy.Nicholls@thegrocer.co.uk 

Against a tough year for grocery as pandemic restrictions ended, the value of cakes and biscuits has crept up. But that’s only thanks to price rises – volumes are down. Partly this is due to fewer promotional sales, but it’s also a symptom of inflated production costs. So what problems face biscuits and cakes as it struggles against increased supply chain costs? Will we continue to see price hikes? And as Brits put themselves in self-imposed economic lockdowns – staying home to save money – will cakes and biscuits see a post-pandemic boom?

Accessible premium: Will a move to develop a so-called ‘accessible premium’ segment within biscuits succeed?

Brands vs own label: Own label has fared better in cakes and biscuits than its branded peers, and this trend could accelerate as shoppers trade down. But will it?

Acquisitions: Fox’s Biscuits and Burton’s Biscuits started combining into one company this year under the Ferrero umbrella. How are such corporate restructurings affecting cakes and biscuits?