From barmbrack and soda bread to wraps and filled naans, the speciality sector is boasting a growing diversity of product By 2002 speciality bread will have overtaken white bread sales, says Mintel, as consumers continue to demand new flavours, authentic tastes and textures. Price isn't paramount here as people want to trade up. Fulfilling the demand for authentic products is traditional Irish bread specialist Ormo Bakery, producer of a menu including soda bread, soda farls, barmbrack, traditional Irish batch bread and potato bread. The company celebrates its 125th anniversary this year and the launch of a new marketing campaign for the Ormo brand. It claims brand leadership of the £82.4m NI bakery market with a 14.9% share, and a healthy slice of the British market supplying Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer. Out of its £36m turnover, Britain accounts for £8m. New product development includes a low fat hot cross bun, a bacon and cheese soda farl and, it says, NI's first organic bread, an organic honey and butter wheaten. Rival Irwin's Bakery is also looking at the organic market with a view to introducing a product later this year, as well as adding healthy benefits such as vitamins and calcium to white bread. Joint managing director Brian Irwin says: "People seeking real taste and different textures in products are demanding more speciality bread and retailers are creating space for it. "The origin of a product is very important to its acceptability. Irish branded soda bread is an important connection to people who have enjoyed holidays in Ireland. It gives speciality bread an identity." Soda bread, soda farls and wheaten bread are Irwin's bestsellers in Britain as well as barmbrack, its only long life product. Its traditionally fermented, hand batched white 800g loaf Nutty Krust (rsp 72p) is being launched here in Sainsbury from May 22. The speciality bread market grew 15% last year, says Pride Valley Foods, with wraps, pittas and ciabatta accounting for 30%-40% growth. The company is one of the largest speciality bread suppliers with a 60:40% ratio own label to brand, supplying Tesco, M&S, Co-op and Iceland with the former, and Somerfield, Co-op and Nisa with the latter. Business sector controller Neil McAnany says: "On new product development we have developed a tandoori naan as the fifth flavour in our naan range, and we have introduced fresh 10 inch wraps under the Pride Valley brand." Wraps, the company believes, is the new trend for the 21st century ­ a view echoed by US company Mission Foods. It now has a £16m production facility in Coventry making flour tortillas and tortilla chips for the UK. It claims flour tortillas are worth £75m across Europe with increases in sales of 20% a year. Driving growth, says the company, is penetration with 54% of new buyers coming into the market, increases in pack weight, plus the versatility of tortilla wraps ­ only two years old in the UK but achieving £25m in sales. Naan bread is another fast moving sector worth £30m in short life, up 18% year on year, and worth £16.3m in long life, up a massive 32% year on year [AC Nielsen MAT Feb 29 2000]. Honeytop Speciality Foods, responsible for 40% of total UK naan production, claims its versatility is important. Joint md Charles Eid says: "People go to restaurants and then want to recreate the experience at home. The more sophisticated filled naans have only recently been available, and these and other variants which increase usage occasions will drive growth." Budgens speciality range made by its own craft baker Gilsons includes a cheese loaf made with cheddar, and tomato focaccia. But its star performer is the seeded nettle loaf. Launched in early 1999, sales have been impressive, the company says, claiming the equivalent of a third of the sales of the top selling premium 800g bloomer. Greenhalgh's Craft Bakery supplies Safeway, Booths, Tesco, Alldays and the Co-op. It already has a range of Italian breads which includes a 400g plain and tomato ciabatta plus a 90g variant for sandwiches, and will soon be extending its focaccia range with three flat garlic ones. "For our Italian lines," says production director David Smart, "we brought over an Italian miller and a craft baker to train our staff how to make authentic Italian bread." In July the company is launching a 400g traditional German style recipe rye and linseed loaf. {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}

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