A Danish business is looking to shake up the bread market with the UK launch of bake-in-the-box loaves.

Zelected Foods is targeting retailers with a range of five EaZy Bake organic bread mixes - farmhouse, wholemeal and rye (rsp: £2.69), plus white and brown gluten-free (rsp: £4.29). Consumers add water to the mixes in their card packaging, shake the mix, stir with a fork, leave it to rise and then bake the loaf in the carton.

The launch would tap into growing interest in Nordic cuisine, with figures released by Statistics Sweden earlier this year revealing that sales of Swedish food in the UK have risen by almost 30% over the past five years as product ranges grew.

The appeal of EaZy Bake breads could stretch beyond those interested in Scandinavian food, said Zelected Foods UK sales director Charles Conder, as the products differed from other bread mix products by only requiring the consumer to add water - and not eggs, oil, milk or the use of bread-making machines and loaf tins.

“You can prepare bread - giving you the taste and smell of fresh bread - in a way that is easy to prepare, makes little mess and requires no clearing up,” he said, adding that the concept was launched in Denmark in 2007 and in Germany two years ago.

EaZy Bake was an intriguing breakthrough for the mature bread market, said Mintel food and drink analyst Alex Beckett. “NPD from bread brands has seen them moving into crisps and waffles but such a concept could potentially kick start bread’s relationship with the fast-developing world of packaging technology, forging new innovation.”

Zelected already distributes a range of loose nuts to UK retailers including Booths, and is trialling the concept with The Co-op Group.

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