The seeds of change

Four years ago, functional breads were never going to get off the ground. While probiotic dairy products were proliferating, fortified breads were struggling for survival, with products such as Warburtons' omega-3 enriched Good Health Loaf for Women and Allied Bakeries' Burgen Cholessterol withdrawn due to disappointing sales.

However, it seems the tide is turning. Either the market is now ready for breads with benefits or brand owners have refined their concepts because, according to Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD), most bread product launches over the last two years have been positioned in the health and wellness category.

Euromonitor International has tracked strong growth for functional breads. It estimates the global market grew by 55% between 2002 and 2006 to a value of just over Euro 2bn. It reports that the US is by far the largest market, accounting for half of global sales, followed by the UK, Germany and Australia, whose functional bread markets are all worth over Euro 300M. The UK, Spain and Sweden are home to the fastest growing markets - growing by 6,000%, 200% and 106% respectively from 2002-6.

Euromonitor says omega-3 breads are driving growth in many countries, including the UK and Sweden, via the inclusion of encapsulated fish oils or flaxseed. Recent successes include Allied Bakeries' Kingsmill Head Start with Omega-3 in the UK and Bakers Naturlig Sunt Omega-3 Special Cold Bread in Norway.

However, creating a tasty omega-3 enriched bread isn't easy, claims Gary Gibbs, head of product development at bakery ingredients firm British Bakels. "Omega-3 is one of the more challenging ingredients to incorporate into bread mixes because of the instability of fish oil: if you add it directly you get a fishy taste," he says.

Last year, British Bakels launched a marine-based omega-3 paste that, it claims, does not leave a fishy taste behind. "As it is designed specifically for bakers, there are no other carriers or additives such as fish gelatine or maltodextrin, which means it can claim clean label status," says Gibbs.

Mintel, meanwhile, reports that the wholegrain category accounted for the most launches over the last two years: of 861 bread products tracked by GNPD Europe, 123 claimed to have wholegrains.

Recent launches recorded by GNPD include Hijas del Sol Pan Tostado Ecológico (organic wholegrain toast breads) from Spanish manufacturer Ynsadiet, and Bona Vita Active Krehké; Rohlícky Celozrnné (active wholegrain bread) from Czech company Pragosoja.

This market data is supported by anecdotal evidence from suppliers of wholegrain ingredients. "The majority of our products are wholegrain," says Simon Wooster, technical director at cereal ingredients manufacturer Edme, "and this has been a driving factor in business growth over the past couple of years."

He says consumer acceptance from a taste and texture perspective are the main limitations on the inclusion of wholegrain. "Not everyone likes hard bits in bread and the influence on baked product quality when large quantities of grain particulates are used in formulations. The latter is usually associated with moisture differential between particulate and dough/crumb and can cause some highly grained products to be dry and coarse textured with a short shelf life. This can be overcome by pre-soaking the ingredients, but this is a further process and is not an option where there is low water availability in recipes."

Recognising these as limiting factors in NPD with wholegrains, Edme has focused its efforts on developing commercial solutions to these issues. Last November, a joint project with Australian technology company Byron Food Science culminated in the launch of a range of grain ingredients. TenderGrains are described as 'soft-eating, ready-to-use wholegrains that can be added straight to the mixing bowl'. Manufactured in wholegrain and kibbled form, they are said to provide the benefits of wholegrain with soft bite and increased product quality, especially in high inclusion or low water recipes.

British Bakels, meanwhile, has launched a bread concentrate that allows customers to add the US Whole Grains Council Stamp of Approval to bakery packaging.

Besides wholegrains, other cereals and seeds are enjoying a surge in popularity, as they benefit from healthy and natural associations and consumer trust.

One of the barriers to launching a successful functional bread is consumer suspicion of what they perceive as artificial ingredients, according to Euromonitor analyst Ewa Hudson. "Flax, seeds and oats go down well in bakery as they are perceived as healthy and close to nature, so consumers don't view them as anything new."

Fuerst Day Lawson (FDL) sells a range of seeds that includes poppy, millet, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, and brown and golden linseed. These are available as conventional or organic, and FDL can also supply toasted seeds, which it says add a further depth of flavour and texture to breads. Kate Travers, manager of the company's new product development division, says interest is also building in more aromatic seeds, such as caraway, fennel and nigella.

British Bakel's Gary Gibbs believes there are several ingredients that offer untapped opportunities, such as beta glucans and prebiotics. "I think one of the areas with potential is prebiotic bread," he says. "Warburtons has got a healthy bread based on inulin but there are a lot of healthy fibres on the market that are equally functional, but with fewer side-effects."

One such ingredient is Hi-maize from National Starch Food Innovation (NSFI): a resistant starch said to strengthen the body's defences by promoting a healthy digestive system and delivering prebiotic activities, as well as control blood sugar highs by improving glycaemic response.

Hi-maize has been used in Sainsbury's own label sliced bread in the UK, and Pägen's Antligen sliced bread in Sweden, and NSFI says many manufacturers have found it easier to use than other fibres due to its lower water-holding capacity and small particle size.

Besides enabling bakers to make fibre or digestive health claims, Hi-maize can improve the nutritional profile of baked goods, says NSFI.

"Reducing the flour content of white bread by 35% and directly replacing it with Hi-maize reduces carbohydrate content by up to 25%. It also gives a 20% reduction in calories and a 45% reduction in glycaemic response," says Alison Knight, European technical development manager, bakery.

In terms of beta glucans, there are two types: 1,3-1,4 and 1,3-1,6, which have very different characteristics and benefits.

Dr Paul Clayton, fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine, says it is the second group that is the most exciting.

"Unlike the first group, which tends to derive from cereals, typically oats, 1,3-1,6 beta glucans are derived from yeast. They are a hot topic at the moment as they are very potent. Here the active dose isn't 5g or 6g, it's 250mg, and what it does is wake up the immune system. It occupies the CR3 receptor involved in setting the level of effectiveness of the immune system, and studies have shown that these beta glucans improve resistance to infection for almost anything, from influenza to anthrax."

He says the ingredient is easy to add to bread mixes, as you only need a small amount, it's stable and has no effect on the other qualities of the bread. "It's effectively invisible," explains Clayton. "It's not that expensive either; when you look at the list of functional ingredients in use, this one seems to be the best-kept secret."

But if it's such an amazing ingredient, how come it hasn't risen to eminence before now? "I think it's a marketing question," says Clayton. "The market for functional foods is so crowded that it's difficult for a new company to break in with a new concept."