The bakery market is constantly growing, with forecasts indicating a significant increase in the coming years. According to recent calculations by IMARC Group, the market will reach 612.4 billion dollars by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 4%. Paraphrasing Fortune Business Insight, this CAGR is directly attributable to “the growing demand for convenience foods, the Westernization of emerging markets and the increase in spending on packaged foods”. The spread of new work models such as smart working and hybrid work undoubtedly has a significant impact on these trends, which push more and more people to buy ready-made products, which can be consumed instantly or after (quick) preparation.
LOOKING FOR A SIMPLE AND HEALTHY PRODUCT
In recent years, consumption patterns and preferences have been changing dramatically, a trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic period. The health crisis has in fact raised the levels of attention to health and the protection of well-being, leading to greater awareness of food choices. For baked goods, the challenge is important: it is necessary to keep alive the benefit of ready-made food and, at the same time, direct it towards health and well-being needs, which rhyme with simplicity, limited processing and transparency. It is therefore clear why the bakery sector has become increasingly rich in healthy, sustainable and environmentally friendly products.
For example, a strong trend in recent years is the reduction of sugar, in line with the growing awareness of consumers regarding the importance of a balanced diet. Furthermore, consumers are paying more and more attention to the origin of food and how it is produced, favoring simple products based on a transparent production process. The simplicity of the product has become a decisive element in the choices of consumers, who prefer to avoid elaborate and complexly processed foods.
PINSA AS A MIX OF TASTE AND SIMPLICITY
Roman pinsa has established itself as a successful product thanks to its ability to intercept new consumer trends. In a context characterized by the need for simplicity, transparency, reduction of sugars, fats and animal proteins, pinsa is a more than adequate response. After all, it is nothing more than a mix of wheat, soy, rice and Pasta Madre flours, with little fat and sugar. The production process, for its part, is traditional, does not include sophisticated processes and responds to consumers' interest in simplicity and transparency.
All this is reflected in the market data, with extraordinary growth rates: from +180% in 2020 to +55% in the first half of 2022 compared to the previous year. Although not comparable to a market with centuries of history like that of pizza, Roman pinsa reaches almost 40 million euros, records interesting growth rates and is now available everywhere in the world.
HEALTH, BUT ALSO INNOVATION
As anticipated, one of the most interesting trends in the bakery market is the mix between tradition and innovation. In other words, consumers are looking for healthy, tasty and light products, but they also love innovation, they want "something new".
In this respect, the Roman pinsa has been the main innovation in the baked goods sector for decades. Research, in fact, shows that most of the innovation in the bakery sector is concentrated in desserts, especially biscuits, cakes and baked sweets. In the pizza sector, tradition has always prevailed over innovation, and recent manifestations (such as coal-fired pizza) have only a marginal extension. The pinsa, on the other hand, has represented such a marked innovation that it has shaped and consolidated a product in itself, independent from its illustrious predecessor.
The ability of pinsa to combine simplicity and innovation has determined its success in various countries and its diffusion in pizzerias, pinserias, supermarkets and large-scale retail outlets, where it has become very popular among consumers.
