Bread, besides being an ancient and highly nutritious food, is one of the basic foods of the Mediterranean diet and of the healthy eating pyramids.
Experts recommend taking it at practically every meal of the day, as it provides carbohydrates, proteins from cereals, vitamins and minerals.
For all these reasons, today we want to talk about the most important trends in bread consumption and production:
- Improve the nutritional profile: eliminating or reducing those ingredients that negatively affect its nutritional value (such as sugars, fats or salt), using complete flours or enriching it with proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals will help to improve the Nutriscore and increase its attractiveness.
- Improving recipes to improve digestion: sometimes, digestive discomfort can be a deterrent to consuming bread. However, we can achieve beneficial breads for intestinal health by using low FODMAP ingredients, such as gluten-free flours, by using grains, seeds, fibers or probiotics, or by making long fermentations, ideally with sourdough.
- Opportunities in baby food: there are few product launches specifically for children (less than 1% of total introductions in Europe). This is surprising, as children are a great opportunity, especially in breads aimed at parents concerned about their children's nutrition.
- No undesirable ingredients: consumers are looking for labels free of elements that they perceive as artificial or harmful to health, such as palm oil. For this reason, the offer of cleanlabel, organic breads, free of artificial colors, preservatives and flavorings is growing steadily.
Knowing these trends can not only help you define the focus of your business, but also help you get the ideal equipment for your bakery.
