Focus On Savoury Pastries & Pies: 23 November

By Vince Bamford (vjbamford@googlemail.com)

Publishing: 23 November 2024

Advertising deadline: 8 November 2024

Submissions deadline: 1 November 2024

The battle for British bakery is hotting up, as more and more people reach for savoury pastries at snack and mealtimes. In the past year, Greggs has overtaken Subway to become the UK’s biggest fast food operator and McDonald’s to become number one breakfast destination. Meanwhile, supermarkets and c-store operators are opening new in-store bakery concessions, launching new ranges and squaring up to Greggs in ads. So why are savoury pastries and pies the hot ticket right now? What are retailers and suppliers doing to stay relevant? And who’s winning?

Retail sales performance: This feature will explore in detail the factors that have led to big market share gains for some of the UK’s biggest savoury pastry suppliers and retailers over the past year. NIQ analysis puts the market in 3.9% value growth on flat volumes, while several of the biggest brands have achieved double digit volume gains. How have they done this?

Consumption occasions: We will also be looking at when, where and why people are consuming savoury pastries and pies, and how retailers, foodservice operators and suppliers are trying to widen the occasions they are consumed on. What proportion of products are consumed on the go, at home or for breakfast lunch or dinner, for example; and how is this changing? Why?

Innovation: Central to this feature will be an exploration of the latest and upcoming launches from own label and branded suppliers. Which products have been most successful over the past year? Have any missed the mark? What are the dominant trends and what will be the next big thing? We will profile four interesting upcoming product launches that The Grocer has not written about before. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each.