Michel Flambeau, application and customer technical support director at the company, said that there had been many bakery innovations in terms of flavors like green tea, coffee and yoghurt and in new formats like mini, convenient portions yet perceived guiltiness of bakery products remains “a key limitation”.
Overcoming guilt
Flambeau said that as an ingredients supplier Tereos Syral responded to this challenge by looking to reformulation via protein enrichment and sugar reduction. However he said that it is important not to compromise on end product taste and that in this respect manufacturers were always looking to full fat and sugar products as a kind of “benchmark” to work from as opposed to creating a new taste in its own right.
Chris Brockman, senior global food and drink analyst at Mintel, agreed that this was an important consumer driver: “A relatively high proportion of consumers in key European countries report cakes being too high in fat or sugar as a barrier to purchase - 34% in the UK, 42% in France and 46% in Spain for example.”
According to Mintel research the proportion of consumers agreeing that they would eat biscuits more often if they “weren't bad for them” is high, amounting to 57% of consumers surveyed in the UK.
Meanwhile in France 44% of consumers say they feel guilty about eating biscuits, Brockman told BakeryandSnacks.com.
He said that this consumer perception had led some brands to take a “guilt-free positioning”, citing the example of retailer M&S’s Guilt-Free Snacking in the UK whereby the portions are all less than 150 calories yet purport not to compromise on taste and quality.
Elderly population
Flambeau said that aside from this process of sugar and fat reduction, protein enrichment also had a part to play. Tereos Syral, which produces starch and proteins, has developed a range of soluble wheat proteins called Meripro which can be used to create high protein bakery products like biscuits, cakes and bread. Within this the company has developed a high protein soft bread specially for elderly customers.
Flambeau told BakeryandSnacks.com that this brioche product could offer a way for elderly people who often have smaller appetites to increase and enhance muscle build-up with a palatable, daily food.
Speaking at the FiE event, he said that he had noticed a trend towards protein within the bakery sector. “I would say this event definitely saw bakers coming for reformulation and protein is clearly an interest,” he said.
Brockman said this was “potentially interesting” and that protein-enriched bread is “starting to see some development”.
“The ageing of the population (e.g. in Europe) certainly represents an opportunity as muscle wastage/reduced appetites etc will become bigger issues to address,” he said.
This year the European Commission’s agency, Eurostat, estimated that the percentage of people aged 65 and older will rise from 17% to 30% in Europe by 2050.
Yet Brockman said that protein enrichment for a wider market also holds potential. “For example consumers wanting a breakfast food that offers sustained energy for the morning to help with weight management,” he said.