According to a recent article in the British Baker, the consumer trend in home baking as a low-cost leisure activity has had an impact on the market for prepared cakes in the UK market, which has seen relatively flat sales in the last few years. The outlook is improving however as cake manufacturers have worked hard to win back customers – particularly the younger demographic – into the category with innovation, on-trend affordable offerings and special-event seasonality. Price is key in this category with intense competition among brands and a particular focus on promotions to drive consumption. Kantar reported a return to growth in the cakes category with a small increase of 1.4% in the segment’s value to y/e February 17th 2013 to reach £1.3bn with volume up by 0.5% for the same period.
In Mintel’s Category Insight report Bread, Bakery and Cakes 2012, the importance of flavour and taste as a strong consumer consideration during purchase was highlighted, often ahead of nutritional considerations. In the UK, 66% of consumers stated that “flavour is more important to me than calorie content”.
In terms of future trends, manufacturers will need to look beyond the confectionery and biscuit markets for flavour inspiration in order to add excitement and value to the category. For example, vegetable cakes – with ingredients such as courgette, carrots and pumpkins – highlight how the use of interesting flavour combinations has the potential to tap into the 5-a-day concept and enhance the health connotations of cake products. Opportunities also lie in co-branding with chocolate confectionery brands such as Mars, Cadbury and Milka continuing to expand into the cake, pastry and sweet goods category, a logical step given the dominant flavour of chocolate in many cake variants.
Source: Orla Donohoe, Food and Beverage Division, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board - 26/07/2013
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