A continued focus on ‘homeliness’, exploiting changing needs at the breakfast occasion, satisfying the appetite for indulgence, and catering to growth in single-serve and ‘sharing’ options are among the areas in which frozen bakery and pastry firms can look to direct their innovation efforts in the year ahead.
By Tom Warden, Gama
In addition to playing to core strengths of value and convenience, the latest data and insights from Gama Compass™ highlight how companies might look to exploit key macro innovation and consumer trends in order to better compete with fresh and ambient options, as well as products in adjacent categories.
No place like home
One way in which categories such as frozen bakery and pastry have benefited from shifting buying behaviors over recent years, especially in western markets, has been the desire by consumers to return to more traditional and simpler ‘home comforts’ – a trend variously attributed by commentators to a retreat into familiar and simple pleasures in the face of financial and political insecurity, a nostalgic sentiment for the past, and a resurgence in traditional ‘craft’ activities such as scratch cooking.
In innovation terms, companies have been reflecting this tendency towards ‘home comforts’ in a variety of ways, but most especially through language that evokes the traditional, the trusted and the home-made. In the US, for instance, the recent launches of Mrs. Smith’s Flaky Crust Pie from Schwan’s and Marie Callender’s Everyday Favorites Fruit Pie from Conagra Foods both focused on ‘homely’ branding and emphasized traditional methods and ingredients, including claims such as “real butter and shortening” and “made from scratch” toppings.
A second expression of the retreat into tradition and nostalgia is a renewed emphasis on a ‘sense of place’ – heavily linked to the trend for localism – through an emphasis on national or regional characteristics and the use of locally-sourced ingredients. In Portugal, for instance, supermarket chain Intermarche recently released a new private label version of the iconic pastel de nata (a type of Portuguese custard tart) in a box heavily laden with traditional Portuguese imagery and with a slogan of “national confectionery”, while, in Brazil, Paf Premium Pao De Queijo (“cheese bread”) boasted of its use of “traditional cheese from the Minas Gerais region”.
On the breakfast bandwagon
The second area where frozen bakery players might look to gain a competitive advantage through innovation is by addressing changing consumer demand in the breakfast foods space, a sector which is now characterized by increasing fragmentation and category diversification. Recent Gama Compass™ data showed that 40% of new breakfast food launches now come from outside the dominant categories of ready to eat and hot breakfast cereal, indicating a greater willingness on the part of consumers to break traditional habits and embrace a diversity of choices at the breakfast occasion.
For frozen bakery and pastry, this means opportunities for more indulgent ‘snack’ or ‘ready meal’ concepts such as the Findus Dolce Bionguorno (‘Sweet Good Morning’) breakfast foods line in Italy that included pancakes, croissants and waffles in a choice of sweet fillings and flavours.
Despite these efforts at diversification, one area where frozen bakery still appears to be playing catch up is in the promotion of functional benefits, an aspect of product marketing that is now integral to the way the new generation of breakfast foods is promoted. Innovating and reformulating to address the health & wellness agenda, as well as changing consumer habits, could help frozen bakery players maximize opportunities in the increasingly competitive breakfast space.
Tempting treats
A further opportunity for frozen bakery to spread its wings from an innovation perspective is by placing a greater emphasis on ‘pleasure’, especially through richer flavors or more intense, luxurious or engaging experiences. From “delicious”, “fine” and “smooth” to “tempting”, “melt in the mouth” and “creamy”, the language of indulgence is now writ large across many frozen product segments, suggesting that, in the frozen bakery sphere as elsewhere, products which are able to offer extra decadence or sophistication could be well placed to succeed.
Admittedly – and especially when it comes to savory bakery products – the opportunities for added indulgence may not be immediately apparent, but, as a number of recent launches have demonstrated – most notably the rise of the ‘dessert pizza’ – the possibilities are now broader than ever thanks to growing acceptance among consumers for adventurous flavor combinations and sweet / savory crossover.
In Japan, a market known for its quirkier flavor innovations, Meiji recently launched Meiji Dried Fruit and Chocolate Pizza “with toppings of bitter orange peel, tangy dried cranberries, crunchy roasted almonds and chocolate”, while in Ireland the Goodfella’s brand was recently extended to include Goodfella’s Sweet Fella’s, a ‘pizza’ range inspired by traditional cakes and desserts – namely chocolate brownie and apple crumble.
Shrinking and sharing
Away from indulgence, changing consumer need-states are also likely to challenge companies’ established product lines within the frozen bakery arena, with both shifting consumer demographics – most notably the rise in single person households – and evolutions in consumption patterns – particularly the emphasis on ‘social snacking’ – impacting on requirements in terms of format, packaging and concepts.
One way these characteristics have begun to be reflected in new product innovation is the move towards smaller sized options, sold in multipacks, that offer consumers greater control over the amount of a product they consumer or prepare in one go. Pillsbury Frozen Mini Pies, for instance – recently launched by J&J Snack Foods in the USA – touted the benefit of “convenience and portion control”, while Boulangerie Premiere of Canada embraced the ‘minis’ concept with the launch of 189 Harwood frozen Mini Croissants and Mini Brioches.
Beyond this, the fragmentation of traditional meal patterns and the rise of more impromptu and more informal occasions, especially within a social context, gives rise to new opportunities within frozen bakery through formats that encourage ‘sharing’ or other forms of interaction. Increasingly, these shifting and less regimented consumption patterns will need to be addressed through the adaptation of product and packaging formats, helping to meet the need for increased interactivity and ritual particularly among younger generations of consumers.
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