From Europe, with grain

Bread has been seeing a return among consumers’ favorites lately. The main obstacles in the way of further market growth still come from the way it is perceived. To educate consumers, a multi-national, targeted campaign addressed the source of the problem. And it works.

+Bread’s staple role among foodstuffs in Europe remains undeterred. Its image with consumers has received considerable help from communication campaigns, such as those organized by the Dutch and the Belgian bakery sector. The purpose: raising awareness among consumers regarding bread’s nutritional and health benefits, its authenticity value and unique characteristics in terms of sustainability, quality, taste, diversity and traditions. This follows the first bread campaign, which saw good results in tackling the issue of decades-long declining bread sales. “Secondly, we learned that, besides quantitative goals, we need to work more on qualitative goals such as awareness,” says Linda van Zonsbeek, Specialist in Nutrition & Health at the Dutch Bakery Center (NBC).

Bread deserves attention

The associations in both countries recently worked together on a new campaign, called ‘Bread good story. With grain from Europe’ is the second round of a two-year-long campaign promoting the qualities of bread. It officially started in January 2022, with the first messages being sent out to consumer from September. It is presented as an integral part of a health-conscious lifestyle – nutritious, contributing to the daily protein intake, plant-based, locally produced and suitable throughout the day – through PR, special events, communication for food professionals that would help them promote bread, educational materials for schools, messages displayed in shops and online, as well as via TV announcements, social media messages and YouTube videos. The campaign’s dedicated websites, www.brood.net, www.broodgoedverhaal.nl (the Netherlands) and www.broodgoedverhaal.be and www.lepainunebelle histoire.be (Belgium), highlight the main focus points surrounding bread and its benefits: wholegrain, carbohydrates and fibers, protein, sports and weight management, gluten sensitivity and recipe ideas. Wholegrain bread is the hero of the campaign, starting with a necessary introduction to different types of flour and pointing out scientific-backed data that explains its lifelong benefits to health. The ‘Success story – what makes it whole grain’ message was promoted on TV and online. In November, two other videos were aired: ‘Nonsense story, the facts on the table’ and the ‘Tall story, the superpowers of bread’. NBC and the Belgian Institute Bread & Health want to reach as many consumers as possible. In addition to consumer campaigns, the project also aims to get nutrition professionals involved. For the National School Breakfast, an event held in the second week of November, NBC also distributed educational material to primary school children – through schools in the Netherlands and through school magazines and special events in Belgium.

Even though wholegrain bread is the campaign’s star, other varieties are also promoted. The information shared by the organizations covers bread in general, to get the full benefit of a deliciously diverse product segment.

To ensure the messages are effective for their intended audience, the campaign clearly distinguished its target groups to address each segment specifically. For instance, the story about protein in bread is focusing on active, sport-inclined consumers, whereas the health-conscious

(‘salad-eaters’) are enticed with the nutritional value of a sandwich with lettuce. The TV spot, which is conceived for a large spectrum of consumers, talks about the qualities of the whole grain (bran), with its fiber and micronutrient contents. Food professionals receive more in-depth information (why and how) and are provided with tools that they can use to inform their clients. Bakers and other stakeholders are informed about the campaign activities and what can be done to also inform their customers about bread.

The narratives were selected based on a SWOT analysis: “For example, health is an important buying motive, and whole grain is an important driver, but some people eat no or less bread because they think it will make them fat. With the different stories, we approach different people, from athletes and salad-eaters, with targeted reasons why bread is good for them, and give them information about the bread’s qualities,” illustrates van Zonsbeek. The campaign utilizes the Touch-Tell-Sell, layered communication method, where each layer has a specific purpose and dedicated activities. The NBC details:

+ Touch: presenting bread in a positive way to consumers, food professionals and stakeholders and show why it is a good-for-you product. General-audience media is used for this layer.

+ Tell: informing the audience about bread’s good properties. For this layer, knowledge about bread is transferred to each target group, via both offline and online media.

+ Sell: convincing consumers that bread is a part of daily life, encouraging them to eat more bread, with activities making bread special, and with recipe ideas and various activities in bakeries and stores. An example of such an activity for this layer is the Week of Bread event. Seven organizations from Belgium and the Netherlands collaborated in this organized effort to highlight what makes bread ‘a good story’: Nederlandse Vereniging voor de Bakkerij (NVB), Stichting Ambachtelijke Bakkerij (SAB), Vereniging van Nederlandse Fabrikanten van Bakkerijgrondstoffen (NEBAFA), Fédération des Grandes Boulangeries Belges asbl (FGBB), Koninklijke Vereniging der Belgische Maalders (KVBM-ARMB), Bakkers Vlaanderen and Institute Bread & Health. The NBC coordinates the project on their behalf.

Week of Bread 2023

The ‘Bread good story’ campaign continues into 2023. It supports the Week of the Bread, which is organized from January 16 to 22 in the Netherlands and Febrary 26 to March 5 in Belgium. On this occasion, wholegrain bread takes center stage: the promotional messages highlight its properties and its taste qualities, just in time for that yearstart health focus. Activities for the event include publishing articles and recipes with wholegrain, social media posts, and outdoor advertising to raise awareness, inform and inspire people. Bakers can actively take part in the ‘Week of the Bread’ campaign, using materials available for download on the project’s website. The campaign is based on the concept that a refreshed image of bread shows its important role in modern and healthy lifestyles. Emphasis is placed on storytelling, to connect with people and provide useful information about nutrition and health.

The goal is to have the total volume of bread sold in the Netherlands and Belgium combined grow to 1.34 million tons, said Frank Janssen, Manager at the NBC. “The campaign aims at supporting the consumption of wholegrain bread. The number of Dutch people who opt for wholegrain bread should rise to 53% in the Netherlands and to 35% in Belgium,” despite the current crisis, he anticipates.

An EU-backed project

The joint sector organizations contribute EUR 435.000 per year for the campaign, which is 20% of its total value, with the EU co-financing 80%. The campaign skipped 2021, so the currently running coordinated efforts aims to consolidate the results of the one from two years ago and expand on its reach.

While both campaigns were standalone projects, the one currently running was based on data and learning from the first, as its organizers learned more about the most impactful types of activities. Among the important lessons learned from the first campaign, held in 2020, was that “a layered communication strategy is very effective in practice. TV is an efficient touchpoint. In addition, we can continue to reach a larger group of consumers by using the main touchpoints more often (television, social media, online video),” Janssen details. The data collected shows that similar issues and trends exist in both countries, with some differences (for example, different evolution levels of the same trend in each market). “That is also a reason that we focus in this campaign more on knowledge and awareness and not only volume,” van Zonsbeek emphasizes.

As the campaign advances, its organizers observe current market shifts. For example, working from home brought a boost to the artisanal channel, Janssen says, as it became more accessible, especially during times when many out-ofhome channels were closed.

There are high expectations from the project: “Our vision is that, with good communication, we can make a stand against bread substitutes, which are often A-brands with high marketing budgets. Bread is a healthy and modern food and its story needs to be told. Especially now that social values such as health, sustainability and food safety are becoming more important purchasing motives, bread has an excellent proposition,” van Zonsbeek concludes. The future of successful ‘bread stories’ will remain loyally close to the consumer. This means social values and the role they play in our diet, which will continue to impact consumption priorities. The focus is bound to belong to safety, health and sustainability – a yet untapped opportunity. +++

Egg replacement challenges and solutions

Eggs are highly functional ingredients and can be difficult to replace, especially by substituting with just a single ingredient. Yet, in the current context, there is a growing interest in doing just that.

By Jo Baker-Perrett, Microstructure Lead, Campden BRI

+Egg replacement is of growing interest to the food industry with consumers and manufacturers driving the change away from egg-containing products for numerous reasons, such as ethical complications, sustainability, allergens and health. The need for manufacturers to diversify their product ranges by creating products that are inclusive of many dietary preferences and requirements is increasing. In addition, the price of egg and egg-derivative ingredients has seen significant volatility over the past five years.

Eggs are highly functional ingredients and can be difficult to replace, especially by substituting with just a single ingredient. Eggs provide gelling, emulsification and foaming properties – all of which are useful attributes for many food and beverage products. Bakery products in particular, are complex systems containing a mixture of fats, proteins, sugar and starch-based material that all contribute to a product’s functionality, in a synergistic way.

The first and most important step in replacing eggs is to understand egg functionality in the existing product: this will provide a baseline of knowledge that can then be used to help guide the choice of replacement ingredients.

Eggs consist of two main parts: the egg white (or albumen) and the egg yolk. The egg white consists of water, minerals and approximately 40 different proteins, which have excellent gelling and foamability properties. The egg yolk contains less water and more protein than the albumen, some fat and most of the vitamins and minerals of the egg, including the main colorings and flavorings associated with eggs. The yolk, in particular, contains high levels of proteins and lipoproteins, which are associated with good emulsification properties.

Foaming is the ability to encourage and support the formation of air bubbles within a matrix. Beaten whole eggs, as well as egg whites on their own, are highly effective foaming agents, incorporating air into a dough or batter. The air bubbles will then expand in the oven, helping cakes to rise, providing volume and a light texture. The different egg white proteins show two key functionalities that enable the formation of these foams. Firstly, the surface tension between air-liquid interfaces is decreased as a result of the egg-white proteins migrating to the surface of the air bubbles, hence the energy penalty for forming bubbles is decreased. Secondly, the viscosity of the liquid phase is increased which slows the rate of foam drainage, extending the lifetime of the foam. The result of this is that egg whites can be whipped to produce foams that expand by six to eight times in volume.

Gelation describes the ability of egg to turn from a liquid into a gel when heated (typically occurring around 60 –70°C). The major protein of egg white, ovalbumin, is easily ‘cooked’ by heat (also known as coagulation), and this helps to set a batter or dough into a stable solid structure during cooking. When the proteins within the egg are heated, they denature and unravel, exposing their internal amino acids that can then link with adjacent protein molecules to create a gel network. Gelation is one of the trickiest functions of eggs to replace. Although many plant proteins show good emulsifying and foaming properties, far fewer plant proteins can form gels. In order to obtain gelling plant proteins, often high purity is required. The high purity is obtained by performing sophisticated, expensive and time-consuming protein extraction, which gives a ‘protein isolate’ product. Less pure plant protein ingredients, termed ‘protein concentrates’, are generally much cheaper, due to the less rigorous extraction; however, these concentrates rarely show the same level of functionality. Aside from proteins, other gelling agents such as hydrocolloids can be useful in providing structure. These are high molecular weight molecules that can be processed to form a gel structure. Some common examples are starches, carrageenan, alginate, gelatin, celluloses and xanthan gum. Starchy materials are particularly useful gelling agents as they are heat-set-gels: the same as egg white (although the mechanism of gelation is different). Some types of methyl cellulose are also heat-setting and work by becoming insoluble at high temperatures; the molecules bind to themselves improving the cohesiveness of the product during cooking. However, their usefulness is limited due to the fact that the gel structure subsequently breaks down upon cooling.

Emulsifiers are a crucial baking aid because they ensure that fat is evenly distributed in the dough or batter during the baking process, which results in a more homogeneous structure. Egg yolk is naturally rich in phospholipids such as lecithin, which act as emulsifiers and can therefore be used to incorporate liquid fats into water-based batters and doughs. Emulsifiers are amphiphilic molecules, which means there are both water-soluble and oil-soluble regions on the same molecule, enabling them to occupy the interface between water and oil. By sitting at this interface, emulsifiers make the oil more soluble in water, encouraging the stable formation of oil droplets in water (or conversely, water droplets in oil/fat). The emulsifying ability of eggs is excellent because there are many different egg proteins of different sizes and shapes which can pack in efficiently at interfaces. A good metaphor for this is comparing egg proteins to Tetris pieces: to efficiently stack up the Tetris pieces you must include blocks of different sizes and shapes, so that the various gaps are filled. Consequently, when attempting to replace eggs with other emulsifiers it is often advantageous to add a combination of emulsifiers rather than a single one. This is because the emulsifiers will pack in better at the interface and will provide a wider range of emulsifying properties, hence showing behavior more like that of an egg.

“A good metaphor for this is comparing egg proteins to Tetris pieces: to efficiently stack up the Tetris pieces you must include blocks of different sizes and shapes, so that the various gaps are filled.”

Jo Baker-Perrett, Microstructure Lead,

In products such as enriched bread and pastries (as well as non-baked goods such as pasta and noodles), whole eggs are added for flavor and color. Furthermore, whole eggs are often used as a glaze in numerous baked goods as they turn an attractive golden-brown color and shine when cooked. This is due to the Maillard reaction when the amino acids in eggs react with the reducing sugars on the dough surface. It is this reaction that creates the characteristic flavor and aroma of baked goods. Eggs also add an essential moist mouthfeel to some finished baked goods, reducing the risk of cakes and sponges being too dry and crumbly, thus improving eating quality and overall mouthfeel. This is due to the fats in the yolk softening the texture and increasing lubrication on the palate.

As mentioned earlier, the first step in substituting egg in a recipe involves understanding the functionality you are trying to replace. To demonstrate this, two example case studies follow where an egg-containing product is examined and an approach to designing an egg-free recipe is explored.

The first example is a classic French meringue, a mixture of egg whites and sugar that is whipped and baked to form a hard shell with a chewy center. One obvious function of eggs is the aeration of egg white to form the foam structure. However, when baked, the egg albumin proteins denature and coagulate and set as a gel which stabilizes the foam structure in the oven and holds the bubbles in place so that as the moisture is driven off, the foam structure remains. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the egg white with a foaming and a gelling agent in order to correctly replicate the behavior of the egg white. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find both of these functionalities in a single plant-based product, hence the need to introduce two or more additional ingredients. In the case of meringue, a foaming agent could include plant protein solutions, such as aquafaba, a source of chickpea proteins, and the viscosity could be increased by increasing the sugar content or adding other viscosity modifiers such as gums or starches.

The second example is a simple cake recipe. Cake batters are an example of a product that requires all the functionalities of egg; its aeration and gelling to create the crumb structure and the emulsification to stabilize the fat. Therefore, one would need to add in a foaming agent such as aquafaba, a gelling agent such as a tapioca starch and an emulsifier such as soybean or sunflower lecithin. However, at Campden BRI, we took this one step further and investigated a novel approach to egg replacement in cakes using powders.

It is often reported that it is easier to make egg-free chocolate cakes than egg-free cakes without cocoa powder. Speculation points that this is due to the ‘Pickering effect’ of the cocoa powder particles, which is a special type of emulsification functionality that some solid particles can show. Hence, several food powders were investigated as

NEWS: Snacking prevails market disruptions

While consumers navigate challenges that impact their cost of living, they continue to view snacking as an affordable and necessary indulgence. The fourth annual State of Snacking report highlights the expanded role of snacking, as it increasingly replaces traditional meals in consumers’ lives.

The report examines year-over-year insights into how consumers around the world make snacking decisions. Last year’s study reveals how current economic challenges are affecting consumer snacking choices around the world – with a majority of respondents continuing to prioritize snacking, despite rising costs and economic challenges.

Snaking has increased, with 86% of consumers having it as a habit in 2021, up from 78% in 2013. Factors that led to this growth include an increase in morning (+42%) and egg replacements in a recent research project. The results showed that apple peel powder could be used to make a cake of similar volume to a chocolate cake by replacing the cocoa powder (both without any egg used). This indicates the potential that powders with similar properties of hydrophobicity, solubility and particle size compared to cocoa powder, could be used to replace egg in cakes. The ingredients tested were all also waste products from other processes which could be utilized as their insolubility is beneficial for the ‘Pickering effect’.

The take-home messages are that:

+ It is important to understand all the egg functionality that egg is providing in a product before being able to decide how to replace it.

+ It is important to understand the functionality of your intended egg replacement(s).

+ Eggs are highly functional ingredients, hence several ingredients must often be added where conversion to an egg-free recipe is required.

Campden BRI has an extensive suite of analytical equipment and scientific expertise to help food producers and manufacturers understand their products better and explore the potential of existing and new ingredients. With pilot scale facilities to accommodate at scale trials, technical experts can help guide your company toward successful egg-free products. +++ afternoon (+22%) snacking, meal skipping, and the rise in Gen Z and Millennials snacking. An average of 40% of the consumers surveyed said they “skipped at least one main meal yesterday” in 2021. This ratio was 30% in 2013.

Countries tend to fall into one of seven types of snacking patterns based on criteria like snacking frequency, how their culture values structured meals, and their willingness to use snacks to replace meals: powerhouse, on-the-go, mini-meal, moderate, frugal, low-level, and quintessential

Key findings include that consumers around the world are snacking:

+ Daily - Snacking is a staple: 71% of consumers snack at least twice a day

+ Mindfully - 78% of consumers report they take time to savor indulgent snacks with 61% saying they take time to portion out snacks before eating them

+ Frequently – Consumers are increasingly replacing meals with snacks, with 55% reporting a higher likelihood to eat a snack across all three standard mealtimes

+ Sustainably – Reducing waste is a top priority, with seven in 10 consumers saying they prioritize snacks that have less packaging and 72% saying they typically recycle it

The ‘State of Snacking’ report was published by Mondelēz and developed in partnership with consumer polling specialist The Harris Poll highlights the expanded role of snacking, as it increasingly replaces traditional meals in consumers’ lives. It includes additional research conducted by Ipsos, developed in partnership with The Food Institute. +++