>>sainsbury looks to low-gi, health, quality and freshness...low-carb could replace atkins factor...fresh more important than healthy...

Sainsbury’s bakery buying manager
Sainsbury is seeing growth in the bakery area driven by morning goods and cakes.
Companies are always looking at ways to develop their brands and use innovative methods of marketing, but it is difficult to quantify how low-carb breads are doing because they are single lines sold within a range of other products.
It is also early days with low-GI bread, but they are certainly an interesting and popular trend in the market and healthy eating is a key issue for Sainsbury.
Our in-store bakeries continue to perform at a high level, delivering the need for quality and freshness.
Waitrose bakery buyer
Bakery is seeing strong investment, particularly in the premium sliced breads, morning goods and speciality breads.
Each of these areas is seeing positive category growth, reflecting the involvement of the trade in driving consumer interest.
In-store baked bread is a growth area for us. It augments what we sell in pre-packed form, with no cannibalisation.
Any decline in the Atkins phenomenon would impact positively on bakery sales. The only downside would be if similar low-carb diets were to merely take its place. Low-GI breads have yet to make their mark but we expect they will this year.
Budgens category buyer for bread
There seems to be a lot of investment in new developments in the category, such as from Warburtons and British Bakeries’ relaunch of Hovis. Plant bread sales are static while the bake-off is doing well.
White bread predominates but shoppers are moving away from economy loaves into premium products such as granary or with added ingredients, and that trend will continue. Products such as naans and ciabattas are also in growth.
I think people want fresher bread rather than healthy bread - if they’re looking to eat healthily they’ll move from white bread to brown or out of the category altogether.
Craig Leach
James Dickson
Nick Hill