The buns and rolls segment showed pockets of growth, with a mix of gains and losses across the board. While traditional products still maintain the lion’s share of the buns and rolls category, growth in gluten-free, organic and healthy options are starting to pick up.
Bread is the largest category in the baking industry, and as such, faces continual challenges related to incremental growth. While legacy brands continue to perform well, the fresh bread, bagel and English muffin categories remained largely flat to slightly down over the past year.
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.”