|
A good time to be in the bakery business The trend toward
instore bakeries and artisan breads is good news for startup processor Spring Wheat Bakers, and domestic consumption in general."We are entering the year 2000 with one of the trendiest industries in the U.S.," said
Bill Donohue, publisher of Modern Baking and Baking Management magazines. "All bakery segments – instore, retail and volume – are pretty much hitting on all cylinders." Donohue says large-line volume bakers are on
solid footing with $40-$50 billion in sales; and the retail bakery industry is thriving with $14-$17 billion in sales. But the market to watch, according to Donohue, is the instore bakery. "Huge changes in the
instore bakery will drive future trends," he said. Instore bakeries have driven most of the thinking in the bakery market over the last 15 years. However, that market, at $17 billion in sales, is maturing.
"In 1976, we had 2,600 instore bakeries in the U.S., and today we have 28,900 and we'll probably peak at 31-32,000 instore bakeries over the next five years," Donohue said. Another trend is what is happening with
crusty breads. "Crusty breads, or artisan breads as they are often called, along with variety breads, are the fastest growing category in the instore bakery market," said Donohue. "What you have with crusty
and variety breads is a genuine palate change on the part of the consumer, which will result in sustainable growth." Donohue said that trend holds true not only for instore bakeries, but for retail bakeries as
well. "Because of the way this market is going to evolve, Spring Wheat Bakers, quite frankly, couldn't be better positioned than they are with their decision to be in the crusty bread and par-baked area,"
said Donohue. Mike Warner (left), Hillsboro, ND farmer and chairman of the board of
Spring Wheat Bakers, and Gary Lee (right), SWB president and CEO, visited with Bill Donohue, publisher of Modern Baking and Baking Management magazines during the Prairie Grains Conference and Exposition. |
