State of the Industry 2016: New opportunities for buns and rolls
The competitive buns and rolls segment overall shows only minimal overall growth, but select ingredients and product dynamics, like better-for-you, can drive new levels of interest.
Buns and rolls continue to emerge from ovens nationwide at a steady pace. While overall category growth has been minimal, several companies saw comparatively significant gains. And while traditional products maintain perennial allure, new interest comes from ingredients like whole grains and sweeteners.
Like other areas of bread, private label leads the charge in buns and rolls. Private label entries in the aggregate led both the hamburger and hot dog buns and “all other” fresh rolls/bun/croissants segments—both subsets of the fresh bread and rolls category. Overall, the hamburger and hot dog bun market grew 0.71 percent in dollar sales to $2.03 billion, while the all other fresh rolls/bun/croissants grouping grew 3.11 percent to $2.05 billion, per IRI, Chicago, for the 52 weeks ending April 17.