The Shelby Report recently chatted with Charlie Wood, VP of sales and marketing at Bake’n Joy Foods, to learn more about the trends and opportunities in the bakery category.
What top factors are impacting the bakery category?
Grocers, and the bakery industry at large, are facing a variety of challenges this year but two that stand out are commodities issues and labor shortages.
The cost of eggs and ongoing issues with cocoa supplies have had a significant impact on the cost of bakery goods that utilize these ingredients. Egg pricing soared because of the Avian flu, and while these costs have come down from the all-time highs we saw earlier this year, they continue to be more than two times as high as the 10-year historical average.
Disease and supply chain disruptions in West Africa, a region that accounts for a large portion of the global cocoa supply, have resulted in lower production amounts and higher costs. While many manufacturers tried to absorb the costs of these rising commodities, the excessive increases ultimately reached a point where pricing action was necessary.
Moreover, labor availability and rising compensation have resulted in fewer skilled bakery professionals. These business dynamics have required many retailers to evaluate their portfolio of products and identify labor savings initiatives. As a result, more retailers are selectively baking key product groups that need minimal preparation and baking time, like pre-deposited cookies, muffins, croissants and loaves while transitioning other product groups to thaw and serve options. This strategy of fresh baking select key items allows retailers to create a halo effect over the entire bakery, which is essential in influencing consumer purchase patterns and ultimately driving more foot-traffic and basket ring.
How is Bake’n Joy responding to the rise of GLP-1 drugs and its potential impact on appetite?
While we are still learning about the full impact of GLP-1 drugs on the bakery category, Bake’n Joy is committed to working with our customers to differentiate their bakery by offering high-quality products at a fair price.
In addition to expanding our portfolio with smaller, sharable and indulgent items, Bake’n Joy is also sharing merchandising and promotional insights allowing our grocers to take advantage of the high-impulse nature of the category.
What other emerging consumer behaviors are poised to shape the bakery category?
Consumers aspiration to integrate healthier foods into their diets has brought better-for-you alternatives, superfoods and functional foods and beverages into the mainstream. We see this trend continuing to evolve.
Social media plays a huge role not only in sharing brand stories but impacting consumer food choices and flavor profiles, whether for a nostalgia reboot or a new flavor profile or addressing issues like food dyes, which are currently in the media spotlight. I don’t see this influence slowing down anytime soon.
With better-for-you options trending, how is your company reacting?
Bake’n Joy has a history of developing scrumptious sweet goods that consumers crave for our grocery partners. As we delve into better-for-you innovation our priority is to ensure we provide great tasting products that will have repeat purchases.
We recognize the importance of striking the delicate balance of providing our customers/consumers with great tasting products at a value. Better-for-you products require unique ingredients which typically demand a premium versus traditional baked goods. Equally important is sourcing ingredients that maintain the same taste and shelf-life performance.
With the growing interest in dietary-driven products, how is Bake’n Joy positioned to capitalize on these trends?
We have a variety of new offerings through two recent acquisitions made in 2024. Early in the year, Bake’n Joy purchased Freedom Gluten-Free Donuts. These delicious, deep-fried donuts come in a 5oz container offering Old Fashion, Devil’s Food and Apple-Cider flavors. They are ideal for consumers who are plagued with Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. We are currently in the process of converting the product to be “clean label.”
Our second acquisition was Wiley Road Foods, makers of Tea Cakes (renamed to Cake Bites), Donut Muffins and Cookie Dough Bites. These colorful, moist and bite-size pieces are addressing consumer’s request for small indulgent offerings.
What sustainability initiatives is your company involved in?
Bake’n Joy is committed to sustainability, reducing our carbon footprint and being good stewards of the environment. We have established initiatives to reduce waste, process product responsibly and donate finished goods. Our food waste is transported to authorized facilities for composting, anaerobic digestion and other processes in accordance with local and state regulations.
Additionally, we implemented a formal donation program for safe but unsalable finished goods that benefits community centers.
What overlooked opportunities exist for merchandising bakery products in grocery?
Featuring bakery items in digital and in-store flyers, especially those items you fresh bake in store, should be a part of a grocer’s strategic decision process.
Additionally, creating secondary displays that highlight unique items and having a strong rotating LTO/seasonal strategy will create excitement, increase impulse sales and drive foot traffic.
Bake’n Joy will continue to leverage consumer-driven data to develop meaningful insights allowing our customers to maximize their performance.
Where will future growth come from within the popular muffin segment?
Bake’n Joy has adapted our muffin portfolio to meet our varying customer needs through the development of unique flavors, sizes and formats. For those customers that are balancing their desire to offer fresh baked muffins against their labor concerns, we are now topping our pre-deposited muffins. By offering a variety of topped muffins with sanding sugar, chocolate chips and streusel, our customers reduce their labor needs, control costs and ensure consistency from store to store.
How does your collaborative approach create opportunities for both Bake’n Joy and its retail partners?
As part of our values, “customers are the focus of everything we do.” In living up to that commitment and wanting to be seen as a trusted advisor, we look to forge long-term relationships through deep understanding of our customers and developing tailored solutions.
Our R&D team works side by side with our customers to co-develop unique items that will become key differentiators versus their competition.
How does Bake’n Joy communicate the quality and sourcing of its ingredients?
Our primary focus is providing our customers with high-quality products that they would apply their own scale label. Therefore, it is imperative we continue to meet and communicate the high standards when it comes to food safety and sourcing.
Bake’n Joy follows SQF (Safe Quality Food) Edition-9, a food safety management system, that is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and we have received an “excellent” audit rating for years. In addition to undergoing regular audits by industry associations we are also regularly audited by our customers for whom we make custom products.
The high standards and protocols we have established are an essential component in building trust and integrity with our customers and their consumers.
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