PASADENA, CA, 16 February 2017 – In 2017, the baking industry will face the most demanding, affluent, and health-conscious consumer market in memory. From sourcing healthy ingredients to satiating the ever changing North American market’s growing hunger for better-for-you baked goods, many manufacturers take great pains to present clean labels to their customers, but as consumers’ standards continue to rise, it could be an uphill climb for some bakeries. So, what do these healthy ingredients look like, and what segments of the North American market show the most interest?
As seen in the industry articles we curated for the January/February edition of our newsletter The BellaNEWS, experts project growth on the sustainable foods front, with 56% of nutrition experts participating in a recent Ketchum Global Research and Analytics study indicating that organic foods and ingredients will become even more important in consumers’ buying decisions, in part because of health-related and environmental concerns.1 They will also vet their sources more, so expect increased skepticism from consumers who read health claims, and make sure to facilitate their search for answers in your owned media and your labels (i.e. provide third-party studies and certifications, more transparency in labels and packaging, easily accessible data on product pages and websites). Our Bellarise® Organic line of baking solutions and dough conditioners were designed with better health and environmental stewardship in mind, and we have made finding all pertinent information on our ingredients and our third-party certifications very easy to find both on our labels and digital/print media.
Of course, one is then left to ask, “Who are these customers that bakeries should be looking out for?” Multicultural millennials are at the top of the list, and according to Nielsen, as reported by Adi Menayang of FoodNavigator-USA.com, nearly half of the most affluent generation in history consists of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Latinos.2 This creates an immense opportunity for industrial bakeries and artisan bakeries alike, since studies have shown that multicultural millennials are extraordinarily loyal to brands that reflect their values. By replacing “dirty” ingredients like DATEM and L-Cysteine, with products like Bellarise® DATEM Replacers and Bellarise® Clean Label Deactivated Yeast, respectively, the North American market’s strongest demographic has more reasons to choose your breads and baked goods. So, by creating a truly clean label that lists only the best clean label baking ingredients, and producing breads and snacks that appeal to millennials’ diverse tastes, bakeries would take a bold step to meeting prospective lifelong customers in the bread aisle and forming meaningful relationships with them.
Then, there is the question of which aspect of clean label you should focus on. Getting rid of chemicals and earning non-GMO status are key, and producing clean label breads with organic ingredients would open a large door to the evolving North American market. For instance, organic is over-indexing the growth of the entire food sector by 3%, according to the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) statistics, and with sales exceeding $43 billion in 2015, now is the time to adopt the organic baking ingredients that will give you the clean label that North American consumers seek.3 With a relative scarcity of organic ingredients, though, industrial and artisan bakeries face a significant challenge when sourcing them. The USDA is currently requesting input regarding the OTA’s proposed check-off program as it searches for a way to support the growth of the organic food and ingredient sector. Its potential effects are being hotly debated by opposing sides as the USDA deliberates over whether or not to instate it.
The baking industry must take bold steps if it hopes to generate significant growth in 2017 and beyond, and producing breads and baked snacks made with clean label ingredients is an essential step towards forming meaningful relationships with millennials who can spark that growth. This means using sustainable baking ingredients that are non-GMO and organic, and producing baked goods and breads that a diverse market can enjoy. According to Douglas Yu’s article for BakeryandSnacks.com, a Mintel study shows that almost half of all Americans feel that their diets are unhealthy, and the ingredient list – a clean label – tells the story consumers need to hear in order to make the right choice for themselves, their friends, and their families. As our own response to shifts in demand and customer values, all Bellarise® yeast, dough conditioners, and baking ingredients are non-GMO, and we are continually innovating solutions that take bread back to its purest origins.
Branding can go so far when telling the company’s story, but the narrative needs supporting details – the right ingredients, if you will – if it is to resonate with the consumers who will bring about the next great growth phase in our industry, and lead to the production of the greatest breads and baked goods ever made. To succeed in our highly competitive industry, it takes choosing the best ingredients, seizing opportunities in a rapidly evolving North American market, forming real relationships with your customers, and producing breads and baked goods that rise to the highest standard every time.
