The latest Trends in Retail takes a look at the baking aisle and the effect of COVID-19 on sales.
‘As elsewhere around the world, COVID-19 has inspired Canadian consumers to cook and bake more while staying at home,’ explains Jeewani Fernando, provincial consumer market analyst at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.
Sales in the baking aisle surged, growing 26% in the year-to-date period ending the first week of April, 2020.
She says that retail data for selected sub-categories – flour, sugar, baking chips, canned milk and yeast – showed growth over the previous year, with yeast sales growing 88% over the previous year.
‘Comparatively, yeast sales were trending downward before the outbreak, posting a decline of 6% for the 52 weeks ending January 4, 2019.’
Fernando adds that this latest Trends in Retail can help Alberta food manufacturers identify product and market opportunities within the baking needs category.
‘Manufacturers may wish to focus on innovation in sweeteners, dry ingredients such as flour, baking chips, graham wafers and crumbs, cake mixes, pie fillings and yeast. Such innovations may also focus on meeting consumer demand for low trans fats and gluten free products. Doing so ensures that the quality, texture, and taste of these products is considered to be high quality and better than or equivalent to conventional products.’
The report also includes an annual and quarterly analysis of retail and food service sales trends in the province.
Source : alberta.ca