On the whole, 2005 has been a good year for the bread and bakery products market, with retail sales increasing by 2.5% to reach £3.17bn.

This has been mainly due to the industry's efforts to maintain consumer interest and capitalise on trends, such as the growing awareness of the importance of healthy eating and the (possibly opposing) trend towards indulgence products. The popularity of branded bread and bakery products over own label — which has been seen recently — has also helped to maintain market value.

The market for traditional white and brown bread, which had been in the doldrums for many years due to heavy discounting, has seen particularly good growth during 2005. However, performance within the market has not been even and the overall growth can be attributed mainly to a resurgence of interest in brown and wholemeal varieties.

Although white bread has benefited in the past from its greater acceptability to consumers, it has always been more difficult to extol the virtues of white rather than brown or wholemeal bread from the point of view of health. In addition, the white bread sector suffered more than most in the face of the media focus on low-carbohydrate diets. While this has dissipated to a great extent, it has had an effect on the performance of the white bread market during 2005, when it showed virtually zero growth.

In contrast, the brown and wholemeal sector has seen a resurgence during the year, and has shown stronger growth than any other sector.

Sales within the ethnic and speciality breads sector remained sluggish during 2005, perhaps reflecting the fact that this is now a mature market.

Similarly, the bakery products sector has also been showing signs of maturity. However, it remains the largest individual sector, with sales slightly higher overall than those for white bread.

As a mature and saturated market, the bread and bakery products sector is unlikely to show high levels of growth over the next 5 years.

However, the industry has shown itself able to overcome some very strong challenges during the past decade. Although the relatively high level of growth during 2005 is unlikely to be sustained, with continued product innovation combined with efforts by manufacturers and industry bodies to promote both individual products and the bread category as a whole, there is no reason why reasonable growth should not be achieved.

1. Market Definition
2. Market Size
3. Industry Background
4. Competitor Analysis
5. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
6.Buying Behaviour
7.Current Issues
8. The Global Market
9. Forecasts
10. Company Profiles
11. Consumer Confidence
Further Sources