“Keep it fun, keep it tasty”: indulgence remains a drawcard for bakery products in foodservice

Our last report on bakery products looked at the sales opportunities they offered for takeaway and home delivery, with customers increasingly seeking ‘grab and go’ meals. Since then, we’ve seen a widespread return to dining out, and it’s the casual offerings that are dominating – due to the labour and skills shortage currently afflicting the industry.

“There’s a growing need for options which can be easily put together with less skilled or unskilled labour, then quickly heated, and bakery products are a great fit,” points out Darren O’Brien, Innovation Manager at Tip Top Foodservice. “From burgers and filled rolls to sandwiches, even garlic bread as a starter or side – all these are simple to process and customers love them. In fact garlic bread is now appearing in places it never did before, like regular cafes and pub and club dining.”

Darren says foodservice professionals everywhere are asking: “how can I get something which I can assemble, heat and serve super-quick? The fact is that the dining public are going out again and wanting to enjoy themselves, but at the same time operators are struggling because of labour and supply issues, and they’re also trying to keep their prices down in the face of economic pressures. And if you don’t want to have to charge more for your food, you have to be able to build it for less.”

At the same time, premium indulgent bakery products are commanding a higher market share. “The great thing is that customers love them because they’re filling – they know they won’t eat them and still be hungry.” Tip Top’s sourdough range has grown 27 per cent in the past year, which is a big increase; its Turkish rolls and loaves have grown by 13 per cent, off an already high base – twice the size of sourdough.

Demand for premium burger buns still growing

Another emerging trend is that of Vietnamese style rolls – “Banh Mi and similar, filled with pulled meats and barbecue flavours have grown for us by 140 per cent, almost two and a half times since everything opened back up!” Darren reports. These have had a presence in Vietnamese bakeries and service station carveries for some time, but there’s now a move to American style flavours and presentation – such as Philly Cheese Steak rolls or barbecued, smoky meats.

“These types of fillings sit so well on Vietnamese rolls,” Darren says, “and for many operators it’s not just the fact that customers love them – it’s that they’ve got the filling sitting there ready to go, all they need is the rolls to fill, so it’s an easy assembly and a quick and simple solution.”

Demand for premium burger buns has been growing year on year and Darren reports another rise of 34 per cent over the past 12 months, adding: “This is now the first time our premium buns, led by the Potato Bun, followed by Milk Buns and Brioche Buns, have a larger sales share than the regular white burger bun.

“The interesting thing is our regular burger bun sales have grown another five per cent, so the premium buns category hasn’t cannibalised our regular bun sales; both categories have actually grown in share but the premium buns just continue to be more and more popular.

“Burgers are now a well-entrenched international trend across the westernised nations – they’re popular with customers, they’re quick and easy to make. Plus the price point of a burger is lower than that of a sit down meal like a piece of steak so it’s a great go-to meal for consumers.

“Based on that growth in the premium burger bun range which is typically delivered frozen, we’ve decided to make our premium burger buns available fresh by the packet for delivery to those smaller foodservice outlets who don’t have the freezer space available for frozen bun storage.

“A lot of these outlets rely on daily ambient deliveries, so we're making them available on our delivery trucks from September – and that’s indicative of how the category’s grown.”

Hot and spicy fillings continuing to trend

In recognition of a growing overseas trend for croissants packed with savoury-style fillings, Tip Top introduced croissants to its frozen range earlier this year – albeit in a slightly less crescent shape than the traditional, in order to make them easier to hold and eat while keeping the fillings in place. Sales have “gone through the roof”, Darren says, so much so that Tip Top has been working hard to increase production capacity to keep up with demand. “We launched these just at the right time – they became so popular so quickly, and the size and shape is obviously what the market’s looking for.”

Mention of the importance of fillings leads Darren to emphasise that spicy, hot flavours are continuing to trend – “all around the world, not just in Australia, it’s the spicy stuff that customers are being drawn to, along with smokey flavours. American style barbecue is becoming popular again – it first hit our shores a few years ago, went away a little over Covid, but now it’s back with a vengeance.”

Plant-based fillings a perfect fit for bakery

And of course, plant-based fillings are a big drawcard for customers, and the perfect fit for bakery products. “Foodservice professionals are using smoky cooking treatments on plant-based alternatives, like pulled jackfruits, mushrooms and so on. They’re also adding smoky flavours into their sauces.

“Plant-based has become so much more mainstream now, and my callout to operators is you should be thinking about the number of plant-based offerings you’ve got on the menu, and elevating them to attract a growing share of those consumers who are looking for them.

“One plant-based option you set and forget isn’t enough because there are customers who cross back and forth from plant-based to meat fillings and they’re looking for a great experience on both sides. They might do Taco Tuesdays, then plant-based Wednesdays – and if you can give them a great experience on both occasions, they’re going to keep coming back.”

Gluten free is also still a growing category, and today the number of gluten free options in bakery is remarkable compared to what was on offer just five years ago. “Consumers seeking gluten free have access to far more choice, and they’re looking for quality that matches a standard meal,” Darren affirms.

“Within our own product range, we’re always seeking to up the quality – if you look at what was available in gluten free bread a few years ago, people were happy with it, but today they’re seeking a product which is really indistinguishable from ordinary bread made with wheat flour. You really need to have gluten free on the menu and it needs to be as good as everything else.” 

But although health and wellbeing is undoubtedly a big focus for consumers at the moment, Darren says it’s more tied to the retail sector, whereas foodservice is still the place for indulgence. “When they dine out people want big flavours and great experiences, and foodservice chefs have to be creative in meeting that need. Keep it fun and keep it tasty!”