The Spanish Association of Bakery Industry, Cookies and Pastries (ASEMAC) reported a production rise of 1.75% for 2012 among its members. Total turnover among industry members was €1.038bn ($1.369bn) for 2012, up 0.7% on the previous year.
“We can say that all our partners are economically sound,” said Felipe Ruano, president of ASEMAC.
“In fact, we had better results in 2012 that we had predicted in January of that year,” he added.
This growth is a result of the efforts being made by member companies to adapt to the changing needs of consumers, ASEMAC said.
Bread aids stabilization
Fernando Burgaz, food and drink industry director general in Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, underlined the increase in bread consumption in 2012 and during the first quarter of 2013.
“There has been a small increase of around 1.2% which indicates that we are, at least, in a period of stabilization,” he said.
Although bread consumption per capita in Spain does not meet recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the sector continues to generate large volumes of business, ASEMAC said.
The WHO recommends that people should eat bread, grains, rice and pasta and potatoes several times a day. The Spanish government's recommendations are that people consume 6-10 portions, 40-60g of which should be bread.
Wider association reach to help boost further…
In March last year, ASEMAC widened its reach to include the whole bread-making industry, including bakery and patisserie industries.
“ASEMAC’s new direction has, as one of its most relevant objectives, helping the Spanish companies in this sector to reinforce their sales in the Spanish market and gain a competitive edge in Europe,” Ruano said.
[All quotes in this article have been translated from Spanish into English in-house.]