The importance of Fresh Bakery within Food Retail is well-known globally. During the American Bakers’ Association (ABA) Convention held earlier this year, Rainer Glaubitz of SPAR International was part of a panel of experts addressing the changes needed within bakery to meet modern trends without compromising on quality or margin.

At the convention, the 2019 Power of Bakery report was revealed. It aims to bring an improved understanding of consumer perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours regarding the bakery category within a food retail setting. The report was developed in partnership with the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) of America, of which SPAR is a global member. According to the ABA, the baking industry generates more than $153 billion annually and employs more than 799,500 highly skilled people.

Rainer is part of the FMI Fresh Foods Leadership Committee, which commissioned the research and provides invaluable insights for food retailers and the bakery industry alike. The research concluded that bakeries have much to offer shoppers. Based on current trends, several key points were highlighted, many of which our SPAR Partners are already practising:

• Fresh is king, with shoppers’ definition of fresh focusing on both when and where it has been baked
• Tapping into the emotional power of bakery whilst meeting consumer needs is especially relevant for impulse sales
• Transparency regarding the use of ingredients is essential and helps to inform shopper education
• Diversity in offering relates to both portion size and range
• Attention to sodium and sugar levels is key, as is diversification in terms of bake-at-home solutions or home-decorating options

Since launching the full-service branded instore bakery solution, SPAR Bake-Off, SPAR International has supported several partners with the implementation of an adapted solution, appropriate for their local markets. One such SPAR Partner to have successfully launched the concept instore is SPAR La Palma in Spain. José Barreto, Managing Director of SPAR La Palma, gave us some insights into their experience with the implementation: “We are now in the process of rolling the solution out to our entire store estate, taking learnings from the first store launches of SPAR Salinas and SPAR El Paso. Our customers are very enthusiastic about the new instore bakery offering and we have seen our sales figures increase as a result.

“The objective was to improve our bakery and coffee offering and increase our sales figures. What appealed to us most about the SPAR Bake-Off Solution is that it can be tailored for different store sizes and formats and customised to our local market needs. The control and efficiency gains of the concept are also hugely beneficial.”

Similarly, SPAR in Northern Ireland implemented the SPAR Bake-Off concept in two trial stores. Fresh Foods Director, Neal Kelly said: “Many of our customers have told us that they wouldn’t expect to see such a range of offering at a EUROSPAR Supermarket. We hold regular instore tastings of products that are either new or on promotion within the bakery range. Customer interaction is the key – our bakery concept is in its infancy and this interaction is extremely valuable to introduce and educate the customer. There is a clear correlation between the featured sample items and sales of these items.”

To read more about Fresh & Food Services, check out the in-depth perishable features from FMI on SPAR Connect. If you want to know more about the SPAR Bake-off solution, watch this video (password Marketing) or contact Rainer  for more information.