As the artisan bread movement continues to gain momentum across the U.S., one of its most-ancient forms—sourdough—is garnering more-widespread attention.
Bill Gates once said, “Bringing together the right information with the right people will dramatically improve a company’s ability to develop and act on strategic business opportunities.”
Today’s snack and bakery market remains as fiercely competitive as ever. The definition of what constitutes a “snack” is tracking an evolutionary course, shifting in step with consumer trends and desires.
The brand-new Enjoy Life Foods bakery, located in Jeffersonville, IN, is a sight to behold. After acquiring Enjoy Life in 2015, Mondelez International showed its commitment to growing the brand by investing in construction of the state-of-the-art bakery, thereby giving the allergen-free brand the resources and positioning it needs to significantly grow its global presence.
On a recent supermarket trip in my suburban Chicago neighborhood, I grabbed a loaf of Butternut bread (a classic Chicago brand dating back to 1893—and one that my kids love) and noticed a QR code on the bag next to the message of, “Be Informed: Go to WhyEatBread.com.”
While the game of tracking consumer trends is never short on nuance, clear patterns regularly emerge to catalyze incremental growth in select snack and bakery categories.
I’ve long felt that the food industry presents the best of all worlds. Tradition holds considerable strength in food. A handful of cornerstone companies continue to drive the lion’s share of revenue across snack and bakery.
China is going nuts over Three Squirrels. For those unfamiliar with this Chinese snack brand, it was launched in 2012, and by 2015 it was taking in sales of $370 million.