Comax Flavors has released new primary research on consumers’ behavior, usage and attitudes towards Sweet Baked products, which focused on cakes, cookies, donuts, muffins and pies. This is the seventh study of the company’s primary market research program. The Sweet Baked Goods study was fielded in August 2017 with 1,000 U.S. respondents aged 18-70+; half were female and the other half were male.

According to IRI, the pastry/Danish/coffee cakes segment grew by 3.5% to $2.0 billion, doughnuts were up 2.7% to $2.0 billion and muffin sales were up 8.3% to $976.6 million for the 52 weeks ending March 19, 2017. “Although there has been a lot of activity in better-for-you products, consumers still have a sweet tooth and crave a variety of baked goods. We wanted to better understand what’s happening in baked goods among the general population,” states Catherine Armstrong, vice president of corporate communications for Comax Flavors.

Comax has partnered with Amy Marks-McGee of Trendincite LLC to manage the market research program and Costello Creative Group to translate the data into creative, fun and easy-to-read infographics. Additional Comax studies include: bread and crackers.

Below are just a few of the study highlights.

Cake Findings - Among respondents who consume “Cake” N=200:

• “Taste” is the most important Cake attribute driving purchase intent with shy of three-quarters (72%) of respondents citing it
• Almost three-quarters (74%) of respondents consume “Frosted/Iced” cakes while shy of half of all respondents consume “Filled” (50%), “Layered” (49%) and “Glazed” (47%) cakes
• "Chocolate" is the number one flavor consumed by all generations with almost three-quarters citing it (71%)
• 40% of respondents consume “Chocolate Chip” making it the second most popular flavor among all generations 
• One third (34%) of respondents consume “Red Velvet"
• 24% of respondents equally consume “Berry” and “Coconut” flavors 
• A quarter of respondents (26%) consume “Apple”; among all generations, Gen X (31%) are more likely to consume “Apple” compared to Gen Z (7%)

Cookie Findings - Among respondents who consume “Cookies” N=200:

• “Taste” is the number one driver of Cookie purchases with 84% of respondents citing it as the most important attribute
• “Soft/Chewy” is the number one type of cookie preferred by all respondents with three-quarters (74%) citing it
• Half or more of all respondents like “Filled/Stuffed/Sandwich” (58%) and “Hard/Crunchy” (52%) cookies
• A third of respondents consume “Frosted/Iced” (34%) while more than a quarter consume “Dipped/Coated” (28%)
• "Chocolate Chip" is the number one flavor consumed by all generations with 68% citing it
• Half of respondents consume "Chocolate," making it the second most popular flavor consumed by all generations
• More than a third of respondents consume “Oatmeal” (38%) while one third consume "Peanut Butter" (33%)
• 20% of respondents consume “Candy” flavors such as M&M’s; among all generations, Gen Z (47%) are the heaviest consumers of “Candy” flavors compared to the Silent Generation (3%)

Donut Findings - Among respondents who consume “Donuts” N=200:

• 79% of respondents cite “Taste” as the most important attribute driving Donut purchase intent 
• “Glazed” is the number one flavor with 55% of respondents citing it
• “Powdered Sugar” (42%) is the second most popular flavor while more than a quarter (29%) of respondents consume “Cinnamon Sugar”
• "Chocolate” (40%) and “Chocolate Frosted” (38%) are well-liked flavors among all generations
• Less than a quarter of all respondents consume “Vanilla Frosted” (22%) and “Vanilla” (20%)
• A quarter (26%) of respondents consume “Jelly” flavors; among all generations, The Silent Generation (37%) are the heaviest consumers of “Jelly” flavors compared to Gen Z (17%)

Muffin Findings - Among respondents who consume “Muffins” N=200:

• “Taste” is the number one driver of Muffin purchases with 63% of respondents citing it as the most important attribute
• 66% of respondents consume “Blueberry” making it the most popular flavor among all generations 
• More than half (53%) of respondents consume “Chocolate Chip”; among all generations, Gen Z (71%), Gen Y (67%) and Gen X (57%) are the heaviest consumers compared to Baby Boomers (34%) and the Silent Generation (12%)
• “Banana” (48%), “Chocolate” (44%) and “Coffee Crumb” (42%) are all staple muffin flavors
• A quarter (26%) of respondents consume “Strawberry” and it is favored by the younger generations 

Pie Findings - Among respondents who consume “Pie” N=200:

• “Taste” is the number one driver of Pie purchases with 70% of respondents citing it as the most important attribute
• “Apple” is the number one universally consumed flavor by all generations with 68% citing it
• “Cherry” (53%) is the second most popular flavor consumed by more than half of respondents while shy of half of respondents (45%) consume “Peach”
• More than a third of respondents consume “Pumpkin” (39%) and “Pecan” (34%) 
• 37% of respondents equally consume “Lemon” and “Chocolate” flavors 

Exploratory Findings - Among respondents who consume “Danishes” N=378, “Buns/Rolls” N=497, “Cupcakes” N=553 and “Brownies” N=550:

• Among all respondents who consume Danishes, almost three-quarters consume “Cheese” (73%) while only a third (35%) consume “Pecan”
• Among all respondents who consume Buns/Rolls, almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents consume “Cinnamon”; half consume “Honey  (53%) and 43% consume “Cheese” 
• Among all respondents who consume Cupcakes, three-quarters consume “Chocolate,” half consume “Crème Filled” while shy of half (46%) consume “Red Velvet”  
• Among respondents who consume Brownies “Chocolate” (79%) and “Fudge” (73%) are the top two performing flavors

Generations defined: Gen Z born 1996 and later; Gen Y born 1977 to 1995; Gen X born 1965 to 1976; Baby Boomers born 1946 to 1964; Silent Generation born 1925 to 1945

For more information, visit www.ComaxFlavors.com. Click here to view the infographic.