Bidvest 3663 Helps Customers Turn Bakery Products into Dough

One of the UK’s leading foodservice providers, Bidvest 3663, has created an interactive online tool to help its customers quickly and easily make the right choice when buying bakery products.

The new ‘From the Bakery’ comprehensive guide, is the result of in-depth research completed by the company into customers’ buying habits of bakery products. The research revealed that bakery tends to be a difficult category for customers to purchase from, as products span a wide range of eating occasions, times of day and cooking and preparation requirements.

The ‘From the Bakery’ guide can be found on the Bidvest 3663 website. Here customers can easily access detailed product information on over 375 bakery products, including; award-winning own brand Cherry Tomato and Oregano Focaccia; a range of food-to-go products including individually wrapped Panini’s that can be heated in the wrapper – such as chicken and pesto or mozzarella, pesto and sun kissed tomatoes – and pastry products, such as a Bridor Chocolate Twist, which are ideal for customers to use to upsell on their coffee menu.

Each product listing includes an image and icons to show the cooking method, whether the product is Craft Guild of Chefs endorsed and whether it meets a special dietary need such as gluten free, providing a quick reference for customers. Dedicated gluten free pages repeat suitable products to help customers choose gluten free products their menu, especially in light of the new Food Information Regulations coming in December. Gluten free products include tempting brownie or raspberry and almond slice and multigrain wraps and crusty white rolls.

Gemma Young, product marketing manager at Bidvest 3663 commented: “Bakery is a key category for any foodservice provider as it touches all eating occasions throughout the day. We pride ourselves on our vast range, offering a number of options to suit different customer needs and price points.

“The brochure includes a ‘something special’ section for each bakery sub-category, highlighting products that will help customers offer something different on their menus. Alternative products include artisan breads and rolls to help instantly ‘premiumise’ products, such as brioche buns for hot dogs and burgers. Recently the industry saw a sharp increase in the popularity of artisan bread, which rocketed by eight per cent compared to the growth of pre-packaged bread at two per cent (Mintel), and brioche buns are up 143 per cent year-on-year (Menurama 2013). There are also top tips and recipe ideas throughout the brochure to help inspire our customers, along with market stats to help them make informed product choices.”

With over 30 new products within the bakery guide, Bidvest 3663 is dedicated to developing new products and working with suppliers to offer its customers products and ingredients which are innovative and tap into relevant food trends.

Gemma concludes: “50 per cent of people claim to purchase sandwiches out of home, making them the most frequently consumed snack (You Guv Lunchtime Outlets, 2013), and eating breakfast on the go has increased by 4.4% in the last year (Allegra strategies eating out in the UK Q1, 2013). These statistics made us realise it’s so important we help our customers to get their breakfast and lunch offerings right and this is why we’ve put all of the bakery products and our expert knowledge together in one place, to make a quick and easy reference for chefs and caterers.”

You can find out more information on the Bidvest 3663 website.