A quick look at the top 10 hamburger and hot dog bun brands reveals a mixed bag of results. For the most part, these brands are either prospering or failing to grab consumer attention -a market trait that is paralleled in multiple bakery food categories. There appears to be no middle ground.
This type of market bodes well for some bakeries and hurts others. For the 52-week period ended Dec. 5, Sara Lee, Pepperidge Farm and Aunt Millies brands all posted solid dollar and unit sales growth while Wonder, Sunbeam, Merita, Rainbo and Colonial brands suffered declining dollar sales and volumes.
For the same period, the overall hamburger and hot dog bun category also experienced mixed results. The category's dollar sales increased 2.3% to $982 million, but volume sales dipped 1.7% to $641 million.
The complete bun and roll category, which includes hot dog and hamburger buns, also experienced varied results. For the 52-week period, the bun and roll category recorded a 2.3% increase in dollar sales to $3.47 billion, and a 0.4% decline in volume sales to 2.26 billion.
This batch of mixed data signals a confusing time in the bun and roll category. While bread manufacturers have entered the premium and whole grain markets with success, the bun and roll category has been apprehensive to follow suit.
Sara Lee Bakery Group (SLBG), St. Louis, entered the bun and roll market with its Sara Lee brand in April 2003, and already has cracked the top 10 sales list of hamburger and hot dog brands. According to Matt Hall, SLBG's spokesperson, the company is currently looking to expand its current bun and roll offerings to include premium products.
Butterkrust Bakery, Lakeland, Fla., also is in the process of expanding its bun and roll product line to include more premium products. The company's new product plans include low-carbohydrate buns and a sweet nine-grain steak roll.
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| The hamburger and hot dog bun category recorded a 1.7% volume decrease. |
Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Ga., participates in the premium bun market with its Nature's Own sugarfree hot dog and hamburger buns. These products carry the Healthline banner.
Although large bakeries are cautiously approaching the premium hot dog and hamburger bun market, smaller bakeries, such as Rudi's Organic Bakery, have charged into the market with premium offerings. The Boulder, Colo.-based bakery produces a line of whole wheat hamburger buns under the Right Choice banner.
It is yet to be seen whether or not the bun and roll category follows bread trends. It all depends on consumers' acceptance of eating a loaded hot dog on a whole grain bun.
| Brand name | Dollar Sales | % Change | Dollar Share | Volume sales | %Change | Unit Share |
| Private label | $463,694,900 | 1.1% | 13.4% | 377,070,600 | -1.1% | 16.7% |
| Wonder | $51,263,230 | -6.3% | 1.5% | 24,936,160 | -5.7% | 1.1% |
| Sara Lee | $28,244,660 | 84.8% | 0.8% | 14,107,410 | 79.0% | 0.6% |
| Sunbeam | $26,365,910 | -13.0% | 0.8% | 14,797,410 | -15.9% | 0.7% |
| Oroweat | $24,674,270 | 1.8% | 0.7% | 10,073,900 | -1.5% | 0.4% |
| Rainbo | $24,243,750 | -15.9% | 0.7% | 9,797,806 | -19.3% | 0.4% |
| Merita | $21,112,400 | -2.0% | 0.6% | 10,031,500 | -0.7% | 0.4% |
| Colonial | $15,945,450 | -9.7% | 0.5% | 8,054,454 | -9.7% | 0.4% |
| Pepperidge Farm | $15,681,570 | 6.3% | 0.5% | 6,660,115 | 4.8% | 0.3% |
| Aunt Millies | $14,464,250 | 5.6% | 0.4% | 7,731,056 | 12.2% | 0.3% |
Source: Information Resources Inc. statistics for the 52-week period ended Dec. 5, excluding Wal-Mart
| Fresh Bakery Products | 52-week Change Ending Nov. 4 Dollar Sales | % Change Prior Year | 52 Weeks Unit Sales | % Change Prior Year |
| Bread | 5,777,111,296 | -0.1% | 3,404,149,952 | -4.1% |
| Cookies | 3,532,854,656 | -4.8% | 1,645,700,352 | -6.6% |
| Crackers | 3,156,844,032 | -1.1% | 1,445,245,696 | -2.7% |
| Rolls/Buns/Croissants | 1,772,920,768 | -1.1% | 1,200,636,672 | -3.1% |
| Cupcakes/Brownies | 803,964,032 | 0.9% | 586,941,184 | -3.3% |
| Donuts | 780,469,376 | 3.9% | 339,053,568 | -0.7% |
| Pastry/Danish/Coffeecakes | 623,042,112 | -3.3% | 309,264,192 | -4.6% |
| Cakes (excl. snack/coffeecakes) | 581,735,040 | -2.0% | 127,569,904 | -3.3% |
| Bagels/Bialys | 431,972,064 | 4.2% | 171,524,080 | 0.3% |
| English Muffins | 377,688,672 | -4.4% | 188,990,512 | -5.5% |
| Muffins | 219,636,576 | 2.1% | 85,847,216 | 3.7% |
| Pies (excl. snack pies) | 185,498,688 | -3.9% | 47,637,244 | -3.0% |
| Source: Information Resources Inc. | ||||
| Frozen Bakery Products | 52-week Change Ending Nov. 4 Dollar Sales | % Change Prior Year | 52 Weeks Unit Sales | % Change Prior Year |
| Baked Bread/Rolls/Biscuits | 442,930,624 | 0.7% | 186,187,424 | -0.9% |
| Pies | 324,538,048 | 2.5% | 86,234,176 | 2.4% |
| Sweetgoods (excl. cheesecake) | 312,982,784 | -0.1% | 116,343,008 | 0.6% |
| Bread/Rolls/Biscuits/Pastry Dough | 123,430,648 | -9.4% | 46,266,584 | -10.3% |
| Pies/Pastry Shells | 109,212,984 | -1.5% | 55,185,452 | -4.6% |
| Cheesecakes | 83,031,760 | -3.4% | 18,442,292 | -6.6% |
| Bagels | 61,951,856 | -19.2% | 48,524,708 | -22.0% |
| Cookie Dough | 5,236,847 | -12.7% | 1,159,982 | -29.0% |
| Muffins | 4,286,651 | -18.4% | 2,066,136 | -20.1% |
| Cookies | 39,772 | -55.0% | 11,092 | -55.4% |
| Source: Information Resources Inc. | ||||
| Refrigerated Bakery Products | 52-week Change Ending Nov. 4 Dollar Sales | % Change Prior Year | 52 Weeks Unit Sales | % Change Prior Year |
| Cookie/Brownie Dough | 418,349,984 | 5.5% | 152,220,288 | 0.9% |
| Biscuit Dough | 385,565,728 | -6.1% | 348,371,712 | -8.1% |
| Pastry/Dumpling Dough | 251,631,472 | -1.9% | 119,018,288 | -4.2% |
| Bread/Roll/Bun Dough | 232,830,128 | -2.0% | 122,408,448 | -2.2% |
| Cheesecakes | 95,831,584 | 9.2% | 17,644,826 | 6.4% |
| Bagels/Bialys | 62,336,144 | -14.3% | 45,314,460 | -14.4% |
| Cakes (excl. snack/coffeecakes) | 61,400,196 | -0.3% | 7,624,275 | -5.5% |
| Pies (excl. snack pies) | 28,437,008 | -18.1% | 5,958,436 | -23.3% |
| English Muffins | 27,521,384 | -3.5% | 17,176,732 | -6.7% |
| Bread | 5,376,524 | -7.2% | 2,671,307 | -9.0% |
| Snack Cakes/Donuts | 5,167,352 | -23.1% | 1,469,505 | -36.5% |
| Pastry/Danish/Coffeecakes | 4,570,954 | 8.1% | 1,600,298 | -10.4% |
| Croissants/Dinner Rolls | 884,722 | 14.2% | 413,405 | 14.5% |
| Muffins | 32,934 | -23.6% | 9,688 | -27.9% |
| Source: Information Resources Inc. | ||||
Statistics for this chart were supplied by Information Resources Inc., a Chicago-based firm whose scanner data covers more than 11,300 supermarkets, and represents 90% of all supermarket volumes.