Whole grains
remain among the
leading bakery
product trends, but
sales growth has
slowed. Promoting
whole grains has
revived consumer
awareness of the
healthful side of
baking and encouraged
other healthoriented
niches to
gain momentum.
As the connection between diet and health becomes entrenched in the minds of American consumers, whole grain is showing staying power. Though its growth has leveled since its 2006 high-water mark in terms of new products and sales gains, whole grain is still the health trend equivalent of the 800-lb. gorilla for bread bakers. And, it continues to be a major trend affecting the baking industry overall. But it's not alone. Other health trends in baking — namely organic and gluten-free — are exhibiting the same meteoric rise in consumer importance that vaulted whole grain into the national spotlight several years ago. No longer content with just whole grain, the increasingly informed consumer is looking for “whole grains plus.”
Between physicians counseling patients on diet and the media reporting messages from the Whole Grains Council and Food and Drug Administration, people are becoming more aware of their diets. Nielsen Co. research polls show that 65 percent of consumers notice nutritional information on food packaging more often than they did two years ago, and of those noticing it, more understand it.
“We look at the whole grain market not as growing as much as becoming more detailed, more specific,” says Patty Elton, research and development manager for Breadsmith, Whitefish Bay, Wis. “People are coming in with specific wants and needs in a bread. They start with whole wheat. That's a given, but they also list requirements on fiber, sugar content, potassium and so on.”
This differs from market to market. For Josh Allen, owner of Companion Baking Co. in St. Louis, multigrain bread has eclipsed all but the baguette in bread sales. But, other whole grain breads haven't faired as well.
“Folks making a choice based on diet are certainly choosing multigrain, but it seems that they need that moniker. Rye and honey wheat sales haven't really increased, even though they are whole grain,” Allen says. “People around here seem to need that birdseed component to really believe they are getting the dietary impact they are looking for. But they are still looking for more than just whole grain.”
To help promote the fact that the multigrain and other breads contain whole grain, he added a whole grain checkmark to the packaging of products containing whole grain. He notices that the search for whole grain isn't as aggressive as it was a few years ago, but is still present.
“My sense is that whole grains have leveled, but it's regional. My friends on the coasts never saw the huge transition to multigrain breads that we saw and continue to see here in the Midwest; it was always a part of the diet there,” Allen says. “I find that people are more and more aware of the need for local, sustainable product, and whole grains still fit into the perception of wholesome and local. Those ideas are all packaged together.”
Whole grains as a health trend in baking blazed the trail for other personal and environmental health trends. Allen believes green and sustainable initiatives dovetail nicely with whole grain, alternative grain and organic trends.
"By being organic, you can't use any bleached or enriched flours, so it's pretty straight forward that you end up looking at whole grains. Organic or all-natural amount to a sort of ‘whole grain plus,’” says Doug Radi, vice president, marketing, Rudi's Organic Bakery, Boulder, Colo. “Now we have a continued opportunity to educate consumers on what whole grain means, and on the wholesomeness of organic.”
Continued consumer education
In the interest of education and further promotion of whole grain, the Whole Grains Council designated September as Whole Grains Month.
“The cool thing about Whole Grains Month is we are making an extra effort to make sure consumers have it in mind,” says Cynthia Harriman, director of food and nutrition strategies for the Whole Grains Council, Boston. “We're doing buttons, posters, etc. for people doing educational activities. As people are doing things for whole grains month, you get this sort of critical mass where it becomes a self-sustaining movement.”
Bakers can capitalize on the increased public understanding of and curiosity about whole grains by making sure they know their product. The Whole Grains council worked closely with the International Dairy-Deli-Bake Association (IDDBA) to produce several informational podcasts on whole grains, meant to give supermarket in-store bakers a resource to learn the dietary properties of whole grains and pass that information along to consumers. The podcasts are available on the Whole Grains Council and IDDBA Web sites.
“We try to keep our associates at Breadsmith well-educated about nutritional values,” Elton says. “Our marketing department keeps them well informed as to how to answer any questions. If they don't have the answer, they can refer to our Web site, which has all our nutritional information.”
For every question a customer asks, several more remain unasked, she says. Breadsmith prints its Web address on its bread packaging, and Web traffic data indicate that people aren't hesitant to visit the nutritional pages in the privacy of their own homes. The 34-unit bakery chain also makes use of signage and pamphlets to help reinforce whole grains' healthfulness.
Breadsmith uses sampling as a dual-pronged tool to both promote whole grain and research their market. Some consumers have a negative perception of healthful food in general, and whole grain still carries some stigmas for bitterness and grainy texture. Right or wrong, the only way to defeat these negative perceptions is to get product into a customer's mouth.
Sampling also serves as a market indicator. “A lot of times customers are looking for a functional bread. They have specific needs, and it's easier to pinpoint what they want because of a greater body of knowledge that is now coming in,” Elton says.
Breadsmith's sampling program revealed an interesting phenomenon that bodes well for whole grain as a health trend. The American preference for soft white sandwich breads may be changing, and the public seems to be becoming more accepting of whole grain. “Kids are getting more accepting of a grainy texture,” Elton says. “We sample our breads every day, and we see kids trying 100 percent whole grain, and liking it enough to get their parents to buy it.”
Commodities pricing
But once customers are sold on the healthful properties of whole grains, will they balk at the price? High flour prices have forced many bakers to raise prices, but they are reporting that consumers are still willing to pay a premium for whole grain baked products. People seem unwilling to compromise perceptions of health, instead making sacrifices in other areas in order to afford a healthful diet.
“These really are unprecedented times in the commodity markets,” Radi says. “Fortunately, we are in a health and wellness revolution, and people are becoming aware of the connection between health and diet. People are making other tradeoffs in their lives before they are sacrificing healthful food; the trend of people eating healthy is helping to sustain us.”
Margins at Companion Bread, which has both retail and wholesale business, are probably smaller than they have been, but Allen hasn't raised prices on whole grain any more than other breads. Individual customers are willing to pay the premium on more expensive products as part of the entire whole grain/local/sustainable package.
“It has more of an impact on the restaurant customer, where bread is sometimes looked at as more of a throw away item or an unnecessary part of the meal,” he says. “The prices make restaurants question how much ‘free’ bread they are giving away, and wonder if they go with a less expensive bread without the customer noticing the difference.”
The media coverage surrounding the commodities crisis has helped consumers understand the crunch that bakers are feeling, Elton says. “We tried to keep the customers informed, and even had signage up explaining. Once price increases appeared in the grocery stores and on the news, customers saw that it was inevitable and it was well received because they knew what was going on. The media really helped with that.”
Ancient grains
The media also are helping to spread the word about Celiac disease and other food allergies that many have long suffered undiagnosed. The strength of the gluten-free and related wheat sensitivity trends in baking brings alternative grains to the forefront. Sorghum flour, for instance, is becoming a favorite ingredient for gluten-free bakers, and Kamut® wheat flour is gaining popularity among people with wheat sensitivities.
“It's a chicken or egg question, whether or not there was a market there that we found, or if we had to create a market,” Harriman says. “But there is a market for alternative and ancient grains now, and it's growing. When they told you to eat your vegetables, they didn't mean to eat only carrots. So when you eat your whole grain, you don't have to eat only whole wheat.”
Ancient and alternative grains offer several advantages to bakers that go beyond increasing dietary constraints on the American consumer. On a basic level, a lack of familiarity with the grains lend them an exciting, exotic appeal that sparks consumer curiosity.
Also, products made with alternative grains are generally free from negative perceptions that might accompany traditional whole wheat foods. This is especially true with sweetgoods. Adding the term “whole grain” in front of a cookie, cupcake or croissant, implies comparison between the white and whole wheat versions.
“We've found that whole grains don't do well as sweetgoods or pastries,” Allen says. “Consumers eat only so much bakery product per week, and they are eating less of it overall. They have to make a choice between eating a whole grain croissant every day or eating one buttery, white flour croissant every week. They seem to choose the latter. I don't see us converting traditional French pastries, Danish or croissants into whole grain.”
People who are looking for sweetgoods are generally seeking indulgence, not healthful properties. But because alternative grains like amaranth, quinoa and spelt are new to many people, they aren't held up to the same wheat standard. This allows bakers to think outside the box and come up with exotic, upscale creations, even whole grain sweetgoods.
Health claims require care
Even with gluten-free whole grain flours becoming more available, bakers must be cautious of making health claims. Very few bakeries are currently equipped to make the 100 percent gluten-free claims, so even gluten-free grains like quinoa can be easily contaminated with ambient wheat flour. Also many ancient wheats that are palatable to people with wheat sensitivities, such as Kamut, emer and spelt, can hybridize with standard wheat in the fields by mistake. “Though we're 99 percent free of standard wheat, it's the other 1 percent that we can't account for,” says Bob Quinn, president, Kamut International, Ltd., Big Sandy, Mont.
The tide of whole grain popularity may have crested, but it is not receding. American consumers have made the connection between diet and health, and they enter the market aware of their specific dietary needs. Organic and gluten-free are gaining strength on the coattails of whole grain, and various health trends complement each other to create a total package of healthfulness in bakery. With more children growing up on whole grain baked products the way previous generations grew up on white bread, the whole grain trend has become a staple.
Whole grains stabilize while natural, gluten-free sales grow in in-stores
(percentage of in-store bakery operators posting sales gains of special dietary products, total exceeds 100% because more than one category cited)
| 2008 | 2006 | |
| WHOLE GRAIN | 61% | 65% |
| ORGANIC/NATURAL | 38% | 19% |
| GLUTEN FREE | 20% | 3% |
| Low/no trans fat | 20% | 14% |
| Sugar free/no sugar added | 18% | 32% |
| None of these | 14% | 14% |
| Low fat/no fat | 6% | 8% |
| Kosher | 5% | 3% |
| Low carbohydrate | 3% | 3% |
Source: Modern Baking Supermarket Bakery Research, 2008