4 In-Demand Baked Goods to Expand Your Offerings

Consumers are increasingly looking for products that offer more. Baked goods have to taste great, have good texture, and even offer enhanced nutritional value. Breads touting a keto-friendly or ancient grain profile, or ones offering new tastes and textures, are gaining consumers' interest. But the eating experience must always deliver on expectations, even in products dubbed healthier — at least to win consistent, repeat shoppers. Yet the same baked goods that prompt consumer interest introduce challenges to existing operations, like keto’s long mixing time and batter-like consistency. Thankfully, you can lessen the impact on your processes while still rolling out new products that live up to your high quality standards. It all comes down to the formulation and an optimal process.

Inclusion Breads 

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Inclusions can provide variety in seasonal and hearty baked goods, like limited-edition holiday items, rustic loaves with nuts and seeds, or decadent treats with chocolate chunks. However, inclusions can interfere with the dough by impacting gluten and making it denser bread with a poor rise. To alleviate these concerns, inclusion doughs benefit from a secondary support system. Dough improvers add that support for strength, improved shock tolerance, and volume. An ingredient such as Lesaffre’s Saf Pro® Star-Zyme™ STR 801 can provide those benefits while keeping a clean label.

Authentic and International Flavors 

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Consumer interest in international flavors and foods ranked among Innova Market Insights’ Top 10 Trends for 2024, with two-thirds of respondents being open to trying new global cuisines. Fulfilling this desire for culinary exploration can be done by adding traditional Mexican baked goods such as bolillos, conchas, and teleras, to name a few. Alleviate the difficulties of adding new or additional products to your lineup by using an all-in-one mix like Azteca™ Bolillo Base, which combines sugar, salt, and strength, volume, and anti-staling ingredients for softness and consistency. It’s versatile and not limited to just bolillos. It’s also suited for other Hispanic crusty products, so you don’t have to stock as many ingredients to make multiple items. Beyond bases, and if more flexibility is needed, you can add a dough improver to your existing mix to improve volume and tolerance.

Keto-Friendly Bread  

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Alternate flours like almond, tapioca, rice, and chia can replace traditional flour in keto baked goods, but this will also change expected bread attributes. The resulting dough lacks the same gluten-starch matrix, which creates a wet dough with a more fluid consistency that will have less volume and poor machinability. Keto dough also needs longer mixing and baking times, so keto bread notoriously adds a bottleneck to production. Similar to inclusion bread, keto products need a secondary support system to compensate for the change in the gluten-starch matrix. While traditional dough improvers have come under scrutiny, enzyme-based forms offer a natural alternative. Saf Pro® Star-Zyme™ STR 801 likewise fits these qualifications, as it was specifically designed for keto applications needing both strength and a clean label.

Ancient Grains 

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In a search for simplified products, bakers look to the past: ancient grains. Ingredients like amaranth, spelt, quinoa, and einkorn are characterized by a lack of hybridization and genetic modification over hundreds and hundreds of years. They’ve gained appeal for nutrient density, high fiber, and a naturally gluten-free profile, depending on the variety.

However, the composition of ancient grains can differ slightly from the standard gluten structure, resulting in a lack of volume and increased absorption and mixing times. Experimenting with a blend of ancient grains and dough improvers can strike the right balance between value-added benefits and the eating experience. Lesaffre Baking Centers™ partner with you to find the right mix through complimentary formulation services.  

For all your baking needs, from commercial-scale ingredient supply to small-batch orders, Lesaffre’s team of bakers is there to provide recommendations guided by almost two centuries of baking expertise. Visit LesaffreBaking.com to learn how Lesaffre helps you solve your baking challenges.