US bakeries launch wholegrain white
their product ranges, targeting consumers who want the taste they
like while receiving the nutrition they need, reports Lorraine
Heller.
Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) is launching its White Bread Fans, and Sara Lee Corporation is bringing out Soft and Smooth Whole Grain White.
Insufficient milling breakthroughs had, until last year, prevented bakers from making a wholegrain bread with a similar taste and texture to white bread. In August last year, ConAgra Food ingredients produced a wholegrain flour using a special white winter wheat and patent-pending new technology to achieve a finely milled product, Ultragrain, with a similar texture to refined flour products.
IBC claims its White Bread Fans, marketed under the Wonder brand, is the first 100 per cent wholegrain white bread to appear on the US market. Today's test launch in six US cities will be followed with a nationwide launch by the end of the year.
With new government dietary guidelines advising the consumption of three portions of wholegrains every day, and with 40 per cent of the nation's bread consumption being white, IBC may have reason to hope that its combination of a traditional white loaf and nutrient-packed wholegrains will bring an upward turn to its flailing finances.
The company has been operating as a debtor-in-possession since declaring bankruptcy last September. This is its first new product launch since last year.
"The launch is part of an ongoing strategy to revitalize our brands and market leadership through innovation and making our products more relevant to today's consumer," said Stan Osman, vice president of marketing at IBC.
Sara Lee claims its blend of enriched white flour and wholegrain flour is more consumer friendly than 100 per cent whole grain white breads.
"We have conducted substantial research and have found that consumers are turned off by the taste and slightly darker colour of white breads with more wholegrain in them. It's just not white-bread enough for them," said Matt Hall, vice president of communications at Sara Lee.
"Even with one extra gram of wholegrain per slice, consumer acceptance dropped off dramatically," he told BakeryAndSnacks.com.
Sara Lee Soft and Smooth Whole Grain White bread contains 30 per cent whole wheat flour, made up of ConAgra Ultragrain and brown rice flour. This amounts to 4 grams of wholegrain per slice, compared to IBC's White Bread Fans, which contains 16 grams per slice.
