Who doesn’t appreciate a helping hand in the kitchen? Whether your consumers are short on time or simply craving convenience, they’ll appreciate delightfully delicious bakery mixes and in-store bakery items. Plus, due to inflation, many find baking from scratch often isn’t worth the price these days. Positioning your products as convenient, scrumptious, easily prepared alternatives with trending sweet flavors will help them go far in the current culinary landscape. Sweeten up your menu to give your consumers sweet dreams!
The number of home bakers committed to baking from scratch has shrunk drastically in recent years. In fact, 28% of consumers sometimes bake but usually buy pre-made baked goods, and 19% bake regularly but rely on baking mixes. Modern consumers place greater value in ease, enjoyment, and convenience. So, give them what they want! Offer easy-to-make yet temptingly delicious portioned baking mixes with convenient additions like dipping sauces, icings, or glazes. Diversify your sweet flavors to meet their range of interests and lifestyles, from rich and delectable concoctions to lower-guilt, health-focused choices. Explore the balance of sweet and savory or spicy in one dynamic product, tempting those with more experimental palates. Suffice it to say, creativity knows no limits when it comes to the current trends in bakery items and desserts!
Let’s explore three ways to attract and excite consumers who enjoy baking sweet treats to create sweet memories with their families and friends.
Offer Value Through Convenience
When we talk about adding value to baking mixes, we don’t mean tossing in an egg or a stick of butter. Looking beyond their delicious taste, how will your baking mixes scream comfort and convenience? Perhaps they save time by providing all the necessary ingredients – 37% of consumers said this would motivate them to try a new dessert mix. Time is money, after all! Or, maybe they enhance enjoyment by including a fun decorating kit – a potentially motivating factor for 18% of consumers. (Mintel 2023) Keep in mind that so-called “shortcut bakers” skew younger and tend to zero in on convenience cooking and baking. How might you tempt and tantalize this discerning bunch?
- Pair a chocolate chunk brownie mix with a 30gm pouch of Salted Caramel Sauce. With a little stirring and a hot oven, consumers can whip up a batch of ooey, gooey, chocolatey goodness!
- Team up a timeless coffee cake mix and an adventurous Espresso Glaze. The coffee flavor will punch up the excitement of classic coffee cake and practically begs for an accompanying cup of joe.
- Liven up your lemon poppyseed muffins with a branded or clear film pouch of Lemon Drizzle. After snipping the corner of the pouch with a pair of scissors, consumers can artfully apply the drizzle to add a sunny burst of vibrant lemon flavor.
- Create an ice cream kit featuring pints of fan-favorite ice cream flavors, fun toppings like sprinkles and cherries, and an assortment of delicious sauces like Butterscotch Sauce, Dulce de Leche, and Raspberry Coulis in small tubs. Perfect for family get-togethers, birthday parties, and sleepovers!
Give a Bakery Boost to Breakfast
Why restrict breakfast to the morning hours? It’s not a time of day – it’s a state of mind! Expand that dining window to enjoy all-day breakfast goodies in cafés and in-store bakeries and at home too. In addition, look for value-add solutions to jazz up your breakfast baking mixes and frozen items. Pair frozen favorites like waffles, pastries, and French toast with mouthwatering dessert-based flavors to make them more than just breakfast entrées. Give your consumers something to look forward to when their wake-up alarm goes off!
- Enhance a traditional, comforting pancake mix with a can of Wild Blueberry Syrup. Let your customers smother their stack of pancakes with the vibrant, fruit-forward sauce.
- Pair freshly cut fruit with a Sweet Cream Dipping Sauce in your deli section. Cream currently boasts a 151% increase in menu incidence, giving us a fun canvas to play with! (Mintel)
- Top yogurt with a small container of Cranberry Sauce or Apple Cinnamon Sauce for some festive fun this fall and winter. The sweet fruit will contrast beautifully with creamy, slightly sour yogurt.
- Mix spicy and sweet in a surprising, “swicy” treat with a chili chocolate muffin topped with Chili Chocolate Fudge Icing. Nearly half (48%) of consumers say they’re buying more in-store bakery items to treat themselves more often, and an innovative and premium flavor like chili chocolate will be intriguing (Mintel)
- Give your frozen French toast some fall flair with a pouch of Cinnamon-Maple Sauce. It’s a tried-and-true flavor combination!
From baking mixes to fast-casual menus, we can provide fabulous flavors and unparalleled expertise to transform your breakfast items.
Strengthen Purchase Intent with Big-Bold Flavors
Consumers buy baking mixes to save time and achieve a certain desired flavor. When asked why they were buying more items from in-store bakeries, 30% agreed it was because of “tastier offerings.” Plus, 49% of adults associate the attribute “delicious” with baked goods from in-store bakeries. (Mintel) Many modern consumers don’t have the time or money to spare on finding the right flavor. Instead, they want flavor guidance, and brands can provide that with tasty trending flavors. Embrace the hottest flavors of the year and offer flavor-forward seasonal LTOs to create new consumption occasions.
The simple joy of sweet flavors knows no bounds! As we explored in ‘The Simple Joy of Sweet Flavors‘ blog, emerging flavors include everything from bubble tea and matcha to passionfruit and dulce de leche. Novel flavors range from cinnamon roll and sundae to wild berry, guava, and lavender. What other 2023 food trends should be on your radar when it comes to bakery items? Cheesecake is on the rise, especially in chilled desserts, while fruit fans are scooping up Mangonada, a Mexican dessert that blends mango sorbet and chamoy topped with chili powder. Delish!
Embrace Dessert as an Everyday Delight
From rambunctious kids to grown-up consumers, everyone craves the sweet satisfaction of dessert. It’s an everyday delight! And with the right baking mixes and prepared bakery items, you can engage with home bakers and build a community that will stick with your brand, your products, and your value-add solutions for years to come. Let the knowledgeable team at Giraffe Foods help you woo home bakers with innovative, flavorful, and (most importantly) delicious new products.
