Supermarkets offer product and packaging innovation to draw shoppers to the fresh bakery department
The onslaught of COVID-19 brought with it confusion and fear in the supermarket, and fresh bakery departments were among the hardest hit sections of the grocery store, with people afraid to purchase anything that others could come in contact with.
Andrew Moberly, director, category solutions at Daymon, a leading private brand consultant, notes the bakery department across grocery was immediately impacted by the pandemic.
“In the short-term, sales of fresh bakery items dropped considerably as shoppers pivoted to purchasing longer shelf-life items and focused on buying staples versus indulgence, while retailers determined the safest way to offer fresh grab-and-go bakery items,” he said. “Overall sales were down 3.% year-over-year.”
But since last summer and fall, retailers have ramped up safety and protective measures throughout their bakeries and are working to entice customers back.
“People didn’t leave bakery, they just shopped differently,” she said. “Initially, we pulled back on self-serve items like single-serve donuts, pastries and bagels, but we saw an extremely positive switch on prepackaged six-counts of bagels and muffins.”
- Karri Zwirlein, director of bakery, deli, and prepared foods for Tops Friendly Markets
Karri Zwirlein, director of bakery, deli, and prepared foods for Tops Friendly Markets, a regional East Coast supermarket chain with 170 stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont, noted that while the retailer’s bakery department was impacted by COVID-19, it still saw sales growth overall in 2020.
These were still freshly baked each day, just packaged in a way that made customers feel comfortable about buying the items. Single-serve items returned by summer’s end because customers were asking for them.
“We still offered a choice, so those who weren’t comfortable could still buy the prepackaged,” Zwirlein said. “We saw very little feedback that was negative and people seemed to like buying something the way they used to and return to somewhat normal.”
Throughout the pandemic, dedicated staff at all Tops stores were charged with cleaning any and all high-touch points in the bakery department, and the stores offer plenty of disposable gloves and wipes for customers to use if they want to wipe something down before grabbing it and adding to their shopping cart.
“We have done very little marketing specific to bakery, but it’s part of our overall message to consumers alerting them as to what we’re doing to keep the store clean and safe for everyone,” Zwirlein said. “We do have signage up in the department letting people know we are cleaning throughout the day and what we have available for everyone’s peace of mind.”
Scott Fox, bakery director for Dorothy Lane Market, a gourmet chain based out of Dayton, Ohio, noted that early in the pandemic, bakery dropped off drastically — especially decorated cakes — but it was very short-lived and by Mother’s Day, the core bakery division was flourishing.
Safety measures in the bakery department included masks worn by all staff, constant cleaning and removing product merchandised on top of cases. In addition, not only were the self-serve bagel and muffin stations shut down, but the store is not planning to bring them back and will institute refrigerated grab-and-go packaged items early in 2021.
Chris Mentzer, director of operations for Rastelli Market Fresh, a small independent gourmet market with locations in Marlton and Deptford, N.J., said the stores had to make many changes within its bakery departments to assure safety for customers, as well as a sense of trust about the products that they are purchasing.
“The days of bulk rolls and bagels are no longer available. All rolls, breads and bagels are now packaged in bags and individually wrapped to meet high standards of safety and sanitation,” he said. “It takes more labor, but our focus is keeping guests feeling good and safe about their purchases.”
“We have also brought in a whole line of smaller cakes and pies that feed two to four people instead of the larger cakes that feed eight to 10. This has been a huge success with the smaller gatherings at home.”
- Chris Mentzer, director of operations for Rastelli Market Fresh
Rastelli Market Fresh has also brought in more packaged products for the bakery, which it didn’t previously carry.
“Items that are packaged from the manufacturer including cakes, cheesecakes, donuts, pound cakes and individually wrapped pastries seem to offer some peace of mind for those that are very hesitant to purchase freshly made service products,” Mentzer said. “We have also brought in a whole line of smaller cakes and pies that feed two to four people instead of the larger cakes that feed eight to 10. This has been a huge success with the smaller gatherings at home.”
Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace, with nine stores in New York and New Jersey, has implemented crowd-control devices in its bakery department, installing new technology where a text can be sent to someone when it’s their time to order.
One area that Dorothy Lane Market struggled with was fresh-baked cake sales.
“Early in December we struggled with our corporate business and our bakery party trays,” Fox said. “We did send out a coupon around Dec. 15 to try and get that business back but other than that, we just stuck to our normal marketing for the bakery department.”
For safety precautions, some retailers have discontinued day-of customization of decorated cakes in-store and have moved to a pre-order option for customized decorated cakes.
According to Daymon proprietary data, specialty cake sales increased during the pandemic as consumers craved comfort foods or items that heighten nostalgia. Dessert cakes (32.7%) and decorated cakes (21.9%) made up 54% of all dessert and sweet-goods purchases from the in-store bakery in 2020
In December, global food supplier Rich Products asked consumers about their preferences for products in self-service bakery cases and 55% of consumers responded that they prefer to see all fresh-baked goods and donuts packaged. Jen VanDewater, vice president, health, authenticity and strategic insights for the Buffalo, N.Y.-based company, notes on-shelf claims like “fresh” and “baked today” resonate even when products are prepackaged.
In the survey, 66% of shoppers shared that it’s very important to see the items through packaging, while 52% are looking for packaging that adds shelf life as a quality cue.
According to Moberly of Daymon, retailers — who had been working hard to prioritize sustainability by using less packaging or eco-friendly options — had to quickly pivot to provide prepackaged fresh bakery goods.
“This brought back plastic packaging as items such as donuts and croissants, which were previously grab-and-go, are now paired into prepackaged items,” he said.
The most noticeable change for consumers in the bakery department is that fresh items are now prepackaged for grab-and-go. Whereas previously a consumer could choose what type of donuts or pastry they wanted, now items are paired together and prepackaged for safety.
“While this eliminates the consumer’s choice of donut or croissant flavors they may have wanted to pair together, it provides safety to the shopper and to employees who don’t have to engage at the counter with shoppers,” Moberly said.
“While this eliminates the consumer’s choice of donut or croissant flavors they may have wanted to pair together, it provides safety to the shopper and to employees who don’t have to engage at the counter with shoppers."
- Andrew Moberly, director, category solutions at Daymon
