For the love of bread: why discerning shoppers are seeking better

Go into any food retailer and no doubt you’ll be offered a range of baked products. Treats such as bread, biscuits and pastries are ubiquitous on shelves up and down the country – in both high end and mainstream settings – but it’s down to the fine food sector to educate shoppers on why it’s worth spending a little more on quality items that not only tastes miles better than the industrially-produced alternative, but benefits people and planet too.

Communicating honestly
Clarity and education around the connection between farmer, grain, baker and loaf is key to the Speciality Food reader’s role in the bakery ecosystem. “Sharing knowledge with customers is key and e5 Bakehouse is always open to hearing questions people might have about our products and work methods,” begins Louise Lateur, managing director of e5 Bakehouse. “We’re very happy to give elaborate explanations of the how’s and the why’s.” Indeed, e5 Bakehouse has transparency at its heart. “Our space under the arches has been organically but consciously designed to invite people into the conversation. The grain silo holding up to three tonnes of grains and our stone mill sit within the cafe space, in plain view for all visitors to see.”

In a retail setting, responsible labelling and educational POS is simple way to make sure that customers recognise and appreciate the expertise, hard work and dedication that has gone into making a great quality loaf. Steer clear of buzzwords for box ticking’s sake – make sure that every claim can be justified – and that the bread you’re selling is the real deal (ie has a minimal ingredients list). By celebrating and correctly marketing well-made bakery items, you can build a community around what you’re doing. “Not all bread is created equally and it is therefore important any labeling is honest and does not deceive the consumer,“ says Louise. “Making bread is a joyful way of learning about what it actually takes to make a delicious tasting loaf: flour, water and salt. It’s a great community activity and a lovely skill to pass on.”

Learn from our neighbours
For centuries our European neighbours have been creating superlative bakery products that have stood the test of time, showcasing skills and expert techniques that take years to master, but the UK market as yet is at the tip of the iceberg in terms of the delicacies are ripe for exploration. “The thing with the EU is that you have a set of countries that each have their own specialities tucked away, and the UK has just cherry picked our favourites,” says Simon Atkins, consultant to the EU’s ‘More Than Only Food & Drink’ campaign. The culture around baking in the EU differs hugely from that in Britain, says Simon. “A lot of these countries are still very artisan-focused. They appreciate the artisan baker and the skills that go into producing a delicious baked product; in fact, in Germany you need a qualification to bake professionally.” 

Anyone who has travelled in Europe will have noticed the number of bakeries located in villages and cities across the Continent, and how it differs from the UK. Paris seemingly has a bakery on every street corner, and even the most far-flung village is likely to host a baker serving the locals freshly-baked basics and treats daily. This is something that independents can lean into – offering a taste of great quality artisan bakery alongside other carefully chosen food and drink products; a far cry from the supermarket offering which we have grown accustomed to.

The power of social media
Thankfully for Speciality Food readers, an increasing number of UK consumers are seeing through the additive-ridden claims of mass-produced bakery items and looking for the real deal, and the rise of social media has undoubtedly played a part. For example, consumers are now used to seeing perfectly-laminated pastries across social media – inspired by French patisserie. “Laminated pastry is now having a real resurgence in the UK and across Europe,” says Simon as shoppers are seeking out a quality, expertly-produced alternative to the stale, soft and chewy options available on supermarket and coffee chain shelves. 

“Social media feeds have had an enormous impact on modern artisans,” says Aiden Monks, founder of Lovingly Artisan. “It brought a new energy into our sector and people who had perhaps moved out of working in restaurants and wanted to ‘simplify’ by opening a bakery were creating all sorts of beautiful-looking products.” This not only fed the consumer appetite for artfully-created baked goods but inspired professionals and amateurs alike to try to recreate what they were seeing. 

UK shoppers are hungry for better
After years of convenience being king, and in-house supermarket bakeries and industrial bakers swamping the market, we are seeing a swing back towards doing things properly. “The EU are the guardians of doing things properly when it comes to food, and while commercialisation was seen as a way to make a quick buck there’s a growing appreciation of the art of good bakery,” says Simon. “The standards are being set higher, especially as people are travelling to Europe and seeing that really great bakery items don’t have to cost the earth.”

Supermarkets were controlling the market by the power of low prices, but that’s no longer what the UK shopper wants says Aiden. The move towards artisan has no-doubt been aided by the conversation around ultra-processed foods. “There’s now an understanding that what supermarkets are selling, while cheaper, is not value for money,” he says. “They’re seeing through the marketing hype, so if a product says it contains added x, y, z, they know to look at the ingredients label and be put off if it lists a hundred things. Campaigns like Real Bread are spreading the word that proper bread should only contain a couple of simple, great quality ingredients.”

Real food being made well and being affordable for all is the benchmark of the EU’s bakery sector at present, says Simon, but that doesn’t mean that the menu is basic. Things like rye bread are increasingly becoming appreciated for their health benefits as well as unique flavours, says Simon. “Nordic bakery is having a moment, as things like rye breads flavoured with fennel and filled with seeds are healthy and delicious – the question is how can we get shoppers to purchase it, and the answer is in explaining how it can be enjoyed ie with smoked cheese and salmon.”

Britons’ unconscious lean towards the familiar can get in the way of our enjoyment of bakery products that aren’t regular fixtures in our baskets, but European shoppers have more of an open mind when it comes to food and drink says Simon. “This is slowly improving, but ultimately we’re a nation that isn’t comfortable with unfamiliar things, whereas across Europe they are willing to try new things – indeed, they are brought up on a wider variety of foods and flavour profiles.”

Selling artisan bakery
The smart fine food retailer offers a taste of adventure while getting the classic bakery products – a great sourdough loaf, perfectly laminated croissants, the ultimate baguette – down to a ‘t’. That’s not to say that adventure will take you somewhere weird, wacky and unsellable. “I take people on ‘bakery safaris’ around London, and when people say they want to experience what’s new I tell them that there’s not really anything truly new – it’s more a case of new to us. These will be traditional products that have been made using skills that are traditionally beyond the UK skillset, or too expensive to make.” Traditional products made beautifully will always be a joyful discovery for food lovers.

Good bakery deserves the same treatment as the rest of the fine food world, and discerning shoppers are looking for a lot of the same credentials from both. “A lot of products in the EU’s bakery market is minimally processed; they’re seen as being pretty clean label, rustic and artfully made. That’s what British consumers want and need, and it’s the skills that EU bakers have that we should start bringing back into the UK bakery market.” 

Trust is at the heart of the real bakery movement, and is something that independent fine food retailers can have faith in having. “Deli owners do an unbelievably difficult job, and their customers know that they can trust them to have selected the very best, great quality, additive-free products,” says Aiden – they should be confident that this trust extends to the bakery counter. Share information about where the grain has come from, the expertise that has gone into making the item, and thanks to that education shoppers can feel confident that what they’re buying fits with their ethos around eating better.