Top 50 in-store bakeries: In-stores 'freshen' image

Breads sale slow, dessert sales increase

Overall bread sales are fairly stagnant and haven’t shown growth in both unit and dollar sales, Parker said, but artisan bread is still doing well and outperforms the crusty/hearth breads in the category. On the flip side, dessert offerings are doing well, especially smaller, individual size products. Portion control and smaller package sizes are one of the driving trends in bakery, Parker added.

“People love small, beautiful desserts,” Jessie says. “If they are really eye-appealing and small, I think consumers have this perception that they aren’t eating as many calories.” Market of Choice offers a variety of products in small sizes, including mousse cakes, tarts and pies. “I’ve seen families come in and spend way more money than what they used to just because each person got their own little dessert.”

Mini pies are one of the three hottest product groups for mini products, according to Nielsen Perishables Group. Mini pies sales grew 33 percent over the previous year for the 52 weeks ending March 31, 2012.

Cookies also are a popular handheld snack. Cookies brought in an average of $3,069 per week per store for the 52 weeks ending May 26, according to Nielsen Perishables Group. “We do a lot of scratch cookies,” Jessie says. “They are our fastest-growing category right now. Our cakes are what we sell the most of, but the fastest-growing category is cookies; we can’t keep up. I think it’s just the fact that we’re making them fresh. Customers are like, ‘My gosh, I do like that kind of cookie.’ It’s kind of amazing how good things can be when dealing with freshness.

“Having fresh, baked-in-store product is very important to customers. It’s really the key to our bakeries’ success.”