Orla Donohoe, Food & Beverages Division, Bord Bia – Irish food Board

According to new figures from Kantar, the total ambient bakery market in the RoI (Bread, Morning Goods and Cakes & Pastries) increased by +0.5% in value terms throughout 2015 to reach a value of €515m. This increase can be accounted for by the recruitment of new shoppers, a growing number of trips taken and increases in volumes purchased per trip.

Key Measure Tree

Bread sales declined by -1.4% in 2015 and this segment is now valued at €291m. Bread was the only segment to decline in 2015, however this decline has slowed compared with previous years. Spend per buyer also declined by -2.5%, however penetration and frequency slightly increased to .1% and .4% respectively. Cakes and Pastries were the best performing segment within the category in 2015 with a value of €115m, recording a 4.3% increase in value, while Morning Goods also performed well, growing by 1.8% to reach €110m.

Value % Breakdown of Segments within the Category 2014-2016

These figures come as a new study from the US featured in Food Navigator shows that the consumption of grain based foods does not contribute to obesity or weight gain – a commonly held belief. The research – based on the analysis of data from the National Healthy and Nutrition Examination Survey in the US (NHANES) – revealed that adults who ate predominantly grain foods did not have higher BMI scores than people who did not eat grains. Indeed, some grain eating patterns were associated with lower weights than the grain free pattern. The overall conclusion from the study was that while grain consumption is associated with higher energy intake throughout the day, it does not correlate to higher body mass index scores.

For more information contact Orla.Donohoe@BordBia.ie