Every day Europeans eat more than 80,000 tons of bread. But what do we know about consumers’ attitudes and buying habits when it comes to bread? New European survey provides interesting insights. For instance consumers show strong interest in wholegrain and nutritional quality.
– More than 68 per cent of consumers in the eight surveyed countries say that they prefer wholegrain to white bread, which is a slight increase compared to last year. More than half of respondents even say that they eat more wholegrain today than they did a couple of years ago, while only ten per cent say they eat more white bread now than they did before, says corporate communications manager Jesper Skovlund.
The survey shows that for the average European it is very important that the bread is freshly baked. The quality of the bread is equally important, and consumers tend to be willing to pay more for good quality bread.
More bread is bought in the supermarket
The survey reveals that consumers increasingly buy their bread in the supermarket. Close to half of the bread is purchased in supermarkets, while discounters account for about 7 per cent of the bread sales alongside convenience stores.
– Consumers tend to buy more bread in the supermarket because it is convenient to do all the grocery shopping in one place. With the advance of bake-off it is becoming even more attractive to buy the bread in the supermarket where it is sold freshly baked from the in-store bakery, says Jesper Skovlund.
Across all eight markets about 30 per cent of bread and pastry is sold from local bakery shops or bigger bakery chains. However, in Belgium the traditional, local bakery shop is still holding up with 44 per cent of bread sales.
Bread is increasingly becoming food on the go
Across the surveyed markets 13 per cent of respondents say that they eat more meals and snacks on the go compared to a couple of years ago. Most markedly in the UK, where 20 per cent of respondents state that they eat more meals and snacks on the go than they did previously.
– When eating on-the-go people want their meals and snacks to be convenient, quick to buy and easy to handle. 27 per cent of consumers want easy-to-handle meals, while 16 per cent give priority to healthy meals and snacks even when they eat on the go, says Jesper Skovlund.
Source: Lantmannen Unibake
