According to Roz White, White's IGA Company Director, a great bread and bakery range offers high quality selections and selections that are “beautifully presented to spark, excite and inspire your customers' shopping needs”.
She adds that the category has "certainly" evolved over the past 10 years with the advent of health and wellness trends and special nutritional needs of consumers.
"(Today) quality, fresh and local with a unique range of premium and health products (lines) are leaders in the category," says Ms. White. "Price-value lines are important to reach in order to meet customer expectations."
As an example, she takes Retail World through White's IGA Mount Coolum in Queensland, which was named IGA Bakery Department of the Year at the 2020 IGA Awards of Excellence.
“(The Store) offers a selection of traditional products and par-bake lines from Community Co, complemented by unique, locally sourced, high-quality, home-baked goodies prepared by local bakers," she says.
"Health and premium lines such as low-carbohydrate, pitted, sour doughs, sugar-free bread specialties and gourmet lines are outsourced locally and from a number of suppliers."
Ms. White added, “We recently introduced fresh cheesecakes from the well-known brand The Cheesecake Shop to complement a range of single servings such as macaroons and cookies. A barista coffee bar with locally roasted beans (also) ensures a pleasant shopping experience for the customer. (In addition) the team creates an excellent “hot box” offering every day with breakfast, lunch and dinner options.
“There is a tremendous variety to choose from, with several options to choose from to suit the needs of the business and the buyer. Mt Coolum has a different weekend shopper than the normal shopper. It is therefore important to adjust the range accordingly in order to have the right offer at the right time for the right customer. "
However, space and resources can be a challenge, admits Ms. White.
“The Mount Coolum bakery area is compact, so optimizing the selection in the room requires concentration,” she says.
“It's important to balance a consistent tempting selection while keeping resources within capacity to maintain supply and profitability. Outsourcing quality lines from local bakers and suppliers helps create this balance and achieve a diverse range. "
Looking to the future of bread and bakery, Ms. White predicts that health and wellness will continue to play a role. Customers are looking for "raw and simple, healthier eating habits".
"It is important to adapt and develop the range in order to maintain market relevance and to keep the range fresh in order to seduce and inspire customers," she says.
"Different demographic bags require different offers. Therefore, it is important to be attuned to the needs and shopping wishes of your customers. Bread and bakery is an extremely important category in the store with increasing market demand. The value expectations of customers do not decrease. The price is only one Part of the value proposition they are looking for. "
Read more about bread and bakery in the April issue of Retail World.
