The sweet frozen snacks and pastry market has become incredibly diverse throughout Europe. This feature examines existing trends and the performance of three distinct products: the Palmier, Pastel de Nata, and doughnuts, as well as some of the challenges facing the bakery sector. By Alejandro Sanfeliu, Iberian Sales Director for European bakery products manufacturer Baker & Baker
For regional specialties such as Palmiers and Pastel de Nata, the ability to easily freeze such products and distribute them across Europe – whilst maintaining the taste and quality of the finished product – provides a wealth of opportunities for manufacturers and retailers alike. There is a clear, growing demand in northern European countries for both Palmiers and Pastel de Nata.
In the last twelve months for example, volumes of Palmiers sold to customers in Germany by Baker & Baker have grown by 19% in comparison to pre-pandemic numbers, in a market where artisanal bakeries and traditional pastries are an established part of food culture. Market data also demonstrates that there has been a strong uptick in Palmiers sales in both France and the UK, with consumers readily accepting of different regional specialties. In its native Spain, the Palmier remains at the forefront of the pastry category, with innovation and NPD key drivers.
New ready-to-eat and XXL formats, and seasonal products targeting specific dates such as Valentine’s and Mother’s Day featuring different flavor and color combinations have all proved popular. The simple Palmier is also extremely popular with younger demographics, with market data suggesting that almost 50% of consumption of the Palmiers is amongst shoppers 30 or younger. As a flexible product that lends itself to a range of flavor and topping combinations, it creates opportunities for bakeries and foodservice to experiment and entice consumers.
Pastel de Nata
Pastel de Nata – a traditional Portuguese pastry, filled with egg custard tart – has demonstrated strong growth with retail and food service customers in recent years in the UK and continental Europe. Despite its origins in Portugal, the growth in Pastel de Nata is now almost solely in other European markets. Pastel de Nata is made by many small bakeries in the artisan tradition in Portugal, however only a few large manufacturers are producing it authentically.
Last year, Baker & Baker acquired a leading European Pastel de Nata manufacturer – Peipen – in Peniche, Portugal to strengthen the business’s in-house manufacturing capabilities and to grow distribution of the product throughout Europe. The launch of clean label variants for northern European markets has had a positive impact, with France and the Benelux countries all seeing sharp increases in volume growth. For Baker & Baker, sales of Pastel de Nata to the Netherlands doubled between 2019 and 2022.
Although a Portuguese bakery specialty, Pastel de Nata has resonated strongly with European consumers, some of whom will have undoubtedly tried the product from bakeries in Portugal. However, its relatively low price point, ease of serve and distinctive taste has made Pastel de Nata an attractive proposition as a bakery staple for retailers and food service operators.
To read the entire article, please access your complimentary e-copy of Frozen Food Europe May-June, 2022 issue here.