My aim is to produce an analysis of flavoured bread products currently on the market, in which I will have included: what is popular, current types with a high demand and having done the previous, give my own ideas for a flavoured bread product.
I predict that currently savoury flavoured breads; such as garlic bread and olive ciabatta; will be the most popular type of bread. I believe this because these types of bread do not have many particular strong tastes, therefore it could appeal to a vast range of consumers.
Flavoured Breads
Throughout my research ciabatta and focaccia appear many times. Both are believed to have originated around Luguria, Italy. Some other traditional breads from Italy are: Bruschetta, Farinata, Penia, and Panettone. Penia and panettone are sweet breads, and bruschetta and farinata are savoury.
More popular still, were baguettes/ French sticks. Although first made in France, the baguette is a “descendant” from bread in Vienna, Austria, when deck ovens were around. Making use of the more effective natural gas energy to power ovens, this type of bread could be baked. Interestingly, it was only in 1920 that this type of bread adopted a slender, baton shape: this is because in 1920 a law was passed in France that baker’s could no longer bake before 4am. With this law in effect, it took too long to bake baguettes in a traditional loaf shape, instead bakers made them in the shape we are all familiar with today.
Also, there were many fruit loaves and fruit loaf cakes available on the market, with many different brands retailing them too. Bread fruit cakes were believed to first become popular around the 16th century when inexpensive sugar from American colonies was imported, and it was also at the time when the discovery that fruit could be preserved when introduced with high concentrations of sugar. Many different variations and recipes proliferated all over Europe after this.
Conclusion
Out of the three most popular types of bread I had found, I believe the third, the fruit loaf cakes, were most popular. On the basis of the information on the home work sheet about Stollen and hot cross buns being widely available at the moment, and of course my own findings, I have come to the conclusion that in Autumn/Winter time, fruited breads are most popular. I believe this to be so partially because of seasonal religious celebrations such as Christmas, where the traditional cake contains fruit also.
My Idea
Having found out the different types of bread that are currently popular, I believe a good idea along the lines fruited bread, would be to use fresh fruit in the loaves. Although the fresh fruit would expire much more quickly, if the demand were there for this type of bread, then I believe that small fruit loaves would appeal to consumers. Smaller loaves would enable consumption within a smaller period of time so that nothing would have to be wasted, and also having a healthy diet at the moment is vital to lots of consumers, bakers could include enough fruit for the loaves to be one-of-your-five-a-day!