Fad diets of the last decade, such as the no-carb Atkins Diet, delivered a blow to bread sales throughout the baking industry. White bread sales have yet to fully recover, but consumers are embracing artisan-style loaves, with their whole grain, healthful allure. Currently, bread makes up more than 11 percent of an in-store bakery's average sales, according to Modern Baking's 2008 Supermarket Bakery Research.

John Rose, bakery category manager for Brookshire Grocery Co., Tyler, Texas, shares his viewpoint on the bread category in supermarket in-store bakeries.

What are the trends you are seeing in the bread category?

The bread category has certainly grown, thanks to customers' clamoring for fresh-baked artisan breads. The key drivers of artisan breads are quality and freshness, with price-point taking a back seat to the former. [Following the national trend, breads and rolls account for more than 11 percent of Brookshire's total in-store sales.]

How have trends changed, and where do you see the bread category going?

A great argument could be made that, to some extent, baby boomers are influencing artisan bread growth thanks to smaller households. Additionally, the health benefits of most artisan breads fit with a healthier lifestyle mantra, which customers of all demographics are gravitating toward.

How has Brookshire adjusted its bread program to benefit from these trends?

Recently, we partnered with [a cooperative] to develop an all-natural line of artisan breads. We have juxtaposed this with a national brand that we carry, which has enabled the entire artisan bread category to grow.

Describe the process of developing the new products.

We looked at several different suppliers, which was an arduous but critical process. Once a supplier was selected, the [cooperative] inspected the plant to ensure that both quality standards and best practices were in place. From there, we worked with [the cooperative] to develop the packaging and branded it under the Full Circle name. Our in-house marketing team did a fantastic job of promoting it in our Celebrate Cooking magazine, along with ad support and excellent execution by our retail operations partners.

Was the program implemented chain-wide or only in certain stores?

Initially, we launched it in all stores to test the water. Afterwards, we pared it down to those stores where customers were more likely to respond.

What are the criteria for selecting which stores will offer the new bread products?

We found that some stores do very well with perhaps only one or two varieties—and that's great. Other stores can promote more of the line with great success. In a certain sense, we asked our customers (the real boss), to point us in the right direction.

What results have Brookshire in-store bakeries seen as a result of the revamped bread program?

The entire bread category has grown, which was our initial goal. Our own Full Circle brand now dominates the artisan bread category, which was our target from the onset.

How have customers responded?

We have had many customers, who were loyal to the national brand, move over to our Full Circle brand. On the other hand, we had some customers who prefer the national brand continue to support it. Thus, we're more than happy to offer both.