Reimagining Bakery

Beware the neophobes: they are the people who are afraid of change. With a dislike of anything new, they are the bane of food developers. Whether blatantly unadventurous, or simply so fond of their favourite foods they want to stick with them, these consumers challenge R&D.

Adding a unique twist to an existing product is one way to entice consumers to try a new offering. And the name itself might incentivise purchase. To this end, bakeries and cafés have launched a wave of trendy hybrid pastries with marketable names like the cronut (a cross between a croissant and a donut), the cragle (croissant meets bagle) and the duffin (a donut muffin).

Consumers may try a new concept at an upscale coffee shop where they can purchase one item, but they may be less likely to purchase a multi-serving package at the grocer. It begs the question. Are these new concepts scalable to manufacturers who bake products on a commercial scale? Or are these manufacturers finding other clever ways to put a new spin on an old product?

Bakery hybrids are a relatively new phenomenon. In the past year, of the more than 7000 new sweet baked goods launched globally, the catchy hybrid names are few. Yet some creative searching reveals some interesting products that blur definition.

In the US, Vons Brookies by Safeway are a fine example of a combination brownie and cookie. Target’s Archer Farms invigorates the brownie concept with an original name and an attention-grabbing combination. Hot Cocoa Snack Bites bring together brownies with chocolate chips, marshmallows and chocolate cookie pieces. These malleable morsels are as flavourful as a sippable hot chocolate with the texture of a chewy brownie that’s laced with occasional crunch.

Total Cluster Fudge offers “Freakin Insane Cookies and Brownies.” Although cookies are not featured on their website, they give us the Kitchen Sink, a play off the saying, as they throw practically everything into the mix. French Vanilla and Chocolate Brownie combine with caramel, chocolate chips. They are topped with M&Ms for the ultimate moist and crunchy experience. S’more is another creation that brings together camp-ready chocolate brownies, caramel graham crackers and toasted marshmallow – no roasting required.

Brownie Brittle capitalises on the parts some people like best. In a variety of flavours including peanut butter chip brownie brittle joins chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, salted caramel, and toffee crunch, they can be eating singly, in combination, or as an ingredient in a dessert.

Proving crunchy brownie brittle can have multiple homes; the website features recipes for brownie brittle no bake chocolate cherry cheesecake, brownie brittle toffee crunch cupcakes, brownie brittle caramel pretzel rods, brownie brittle yogurt fondue, strawberry cheesecake brownie brittle parfait, among other recipes.

A search for cronut brings us to City Market in Mexico, where chocolate, maple syrup, and confectioner’s glaze cronuts appear. In the Netherlands, Albert Heijn had a run with the Ah Cronut.

The transition from street side to mainstream bakery is slow. Dominique Ansel is credited with fashioning the cronut in 2013. In the reimagining bakery named for his kitchen he can be meticulously creative. It took four months to develop the recipe. In an interview with the New York Post, he explains it takes three days to make.

“Time is an ingredient,” he said.

Time is the element missing in baked goods sold in the average reimagining bakery section of the supermarket, not only in the amount that manufacturers will spend in getting their products out the door, but also in what they will invest in winning consumers to their products.

Most consumers have not tried a cruffin (a croissant-muffin hybrid), a crozel (half croissant and half bagel) or a scruffin (a scone-muffin cross). But if they try them, they might just like them.

With time, the market may even hold some combinations no one has thought of yet.