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BREAD & BAKERY FROM PAGE 43 Catering to healthy demand Thanks to a rise in plant-based eating, Herman Brot’s products are claimed to be in “huge demand”. “With a product suite that currently includes low carb bread, low carb wraps, low carb pasta, protein buns, protein wraps and protein crackers, the benefits of these plant-based certified products \\\[Sydney University GI Research Service – SUGiRS\\\] are outstanding,” Herman Brot founder and Director Christian Coenen said. “All products have the 5 health star rating and are suitable for people on weight loss programs, fitness and health orientated people, vegans, vegetarians and those on keto diets. Their low GI ratings also make them the perfect addition to the diets of people with Type II diabetes \\\[tested and endorsed by SUGiRS\\\].” Talking specifically about Covid-19 impacts, Mr Coenen says his business as a whole has “fared quite well” due to increased interest in plant-based vegan and vegetarian foods. The financial impact of the pandemic on many families, he notes, has, however, meant that many have had to limit spending on groceries, with the result that “a number of people” have been choosing cheaper options, whereas before it was a nutrition-over-price decision. To address this, Mr Coenen says Herman Brot will “continue doing what we do”. “We’ll market our products to the segments of the market who understand their nutritional needs,” he said. “These people prioritise good nutritious foods over lesser quality products, regardless of price. These customers choose to make savings elsewhere, in order to purchase quality products to fuel their bodies.” Assisting with this, Mr Coenen notes, Herman Brot now has salespeople and/ or distributors in each state and territory. “Our immediate priority is to ensure that our products are available in as many stores as we can,” he said. “We support our own team and distributors with marketing materials and advertising, and as our retail list grows, our advertising expenditure and support will too. “Education is key to selling our products, and we also have many educational pieces, research and testimonials for all our products. These are readily available to our team, distributors and retailers.” Mr Coenen advises retailers to spend “more time and effort” and to provide more shelf space to brands that are producing products that are nutritiously beneficial to their customers. “With more people living with type 2 diabetes and other dietary related diseases, retailers should adopt a duty of care when it comes to their customers, and support companies trying to help these people,” he said. Looking ahead, Mr Coenen believes the bread category will no longer be one category. “Retailers will soon be breaking up the category into sections focusing on nutritional benefits,” he said. “There’ll be a plant-based vegan/vegetarian section, a low carb section, a high-protein section, and as more people understand the importance of GI, there’ll be a section for low GI.” Considering his business’s future, Mr Coenen says Herman Brot anticipates “incredible growth” as it gets more retailers on board. “Once customers can find our products in the majority of independent supermarkets and health food stores around the country, the business will thrive,” he said. “The trend to move to better foods and plant-based foods is irreversible and all parties involved ... will face significant changes in the near future.” “The interest in and demand for plant- based foods aren’t going to slow down. We’ve been flying the plant-based eating flag since we launched our very first product \\\[lower carb bread\\\] in 2015. “We’ll also continue to walk in the footsteps of the giants like Coca-Cola, Cadbury, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s and others. As they contribute to creating more ‘unhealthy’ people, we’ll continue to provide products (staple foods) to help the ‘curers of disease’ (the doctors and health practitioners) do their job. “The trend to move to better foods and plant-based foods is irreversible and all parties involved, such as the farming and agriculture industry, the retailers and consumers, will face significant changes in the near future.” Shaking up the category Arthur Brunt Quality Grocer (ABQG) plays across the bakery sub-categories of bake at home and bakery snacks – with its Mrs Brunt’s Shake ‘n Bake in This Box breads/ cakes and Mrs Brunt’s Waffles. “Both have performed very well, pushed along by Covid changing consumer patterns during 2020,” ABQG Director Craig Brunt said. “Mrs Brunt’s Waffle volumes were up 36 per cent YOY \\\[calendar year 2019 versus 2020\\\].” Mr Brunt claims that with Mrs Brunt’s Shake ‘n Bake offering, bake at home became a new sub-category in 2020 for bakery departments and Australian supermarkets. “Our instant bread \\\[offers\\\] a fresh baked loaf at home – no baking tin, no kneading, in just over an hour,” Mr Brunt said. “\\\[This\\\] was launched in late 2019 and was the ideal lockdown product. The convenience introduced a lot of consumers to the joy of baking. “Our expectations of the category are for steady growth as more and more consumers enjoy the ease and convenience of fresh home-baked bread – not explosive growth, as we’re seeing many customers, having been introduced to home bread baking, going onto be avid bakers, and these consumers are migrating away from bake at home to bread mixes and bread flour in general groceries.” In terms of bakery snacks (specifically waffles, notes Mr Brunt), ABQG has noted “significant growth” as stay-at- home consumers have been enjoying waffles with their “morning cuppa” as well as quick-and-easy at home dessert occasions. “We see these habits sticking through 2021 with the first six weeks of 2021 44 RETAIL WORLD APR, 2021