Is that toast I smell? Federation of Bakers grabs attention with perfume

03-Oct-2013 - Last updated on 04-Oct-2013 at 19:57 GMT

The Federation of Bakers has made a bold move to get is message across on bread and health with Eau de Toast

The Federation of Bakers has designed a toast-scented fragrance in a ‘quirky’ marketing ploy to encourage young women to think differently about bread, its director says.

Its Eau de Toast was launched last month to tie in with London fashion week – with samples distributed to models at the catwalk shows. The samples were also available online to members of the public, but have since sold out.

The move ties in with the Federation’s ‘Slice of Life’ campaign that promotes bread as part of a healthy diet.

“We knew we wanted to do something around London fashion week, so perfume seemed a perfect match,” said Gordon Polson, director of the Federation of Bakers.

“We were using fashion as a hook to get young women in particular to learn more about bread,” he told BakeryandSnacks.com.

Fashionistas! Eat toast

The Federation of Bakers commissioned The Aroma Company to produce the scent; developed using yeast top notes with a hint of caramel and malty base notes to give the overall impression of freshly toasted bread.

“We wanted to find a way to reach young women and talk to them about breakfast and the benefits of eating sliced bread without lecturing them,” Polson said.

“I think people like the quirky way it is presented but also take on board the underlying message about the value, versatility and health properties of bread,” he said.

Sliced white bread under fire…

The Federation of Bakers has long been working to promote the nutritional value of bread; sliced white in particular. However, it has come up against some nutritionists who have questioned the association’s desire to promote the ‘less healthy’ bread variants over whole grain and other brown varieties.

One nutritionist told this site: “The best bread is wholegrain… We’ve got this fiber crisis in the UK and EU and I think we need to do everything possible to shift people to whole grain.”

Polson has fought back and said that while wholegrain is healthy, there are no negatives to eating white bread. He said the Federation would continue to work hard to oust sliced white’s unhealthy image.

The marketing around the toast-scented perfume has been taken seriously, Polson said, and the ‘serious’ message has been understood.

“We have been very pleased with the interest from around the world… We may use it again,” he said.