A thing of the Past and the Present: To the World of Bakery

If you've been a regular here, you probably have noticed that much of my food posts and recipes talked about the world of Culinary and Savory. Blame it to a decade of work in this field, my taste buds were oriented in the meaty- savory notes to a great deal. Now that I'm beginning to explore the other half of the sensory pie which is Sweet, I'm missing the customary taste of salt and umami. Hence, I found myself one morning stirring a bowl of noodles for a comforting treat. Much to my (and the kids) delight, we even consumed it with the exciting flavour notes of baked goods (shown above). I can only care less whether the dining table carried a perfect breakfast match or not. Ultimately, it's my (and the kids') liking that's chief.

On to my exploration of my new interest, I roamed around the city to have a glimpse of the bakery landscape in the Philippines. In general, it's a growing and stirring industry locally. There are so much trends going on. From the typical, traditional pandesal, Pinoys' bread had evolved to abundant forms and novel ways of consumption.

For the Boutique Bakery concept, BREAD TALK leads the way. I particularly like the fusion of "glo-cal" concepts here.

Fortune Bakeshop obviously taps the mainstream market. I know of some previous colleagues who are loyal patrons of this store's "Pianono" (chiffon roll).

For the hotel category, I would rank Shangri-la and Manila Pen as market leaders. These two, have bread stations that showcase various great selections of breads and pastries. I was particularly enticed by Shangri-la's positioning of "Baked Fresh" goodies. The hours of baking for a selected variety of bread is shown at the counter's area. It's a you have it when you expect it kind of thing.

The considered innovator in the field is French Baker. They recently launched the 100% whole grain bread which is being claimed as the first in the country. This is a complete, one stop bread shop for me.

For the chocolates, pastries and desserts, Dusit Thani's glass case is a haven of rich assortments. Don't you think so?!

And for the packaged goods, obviously Gardenia owns the leadership. Their product range is even exclusively shown at the express bread station of SM Makati.

As a whole from what I've noted, bread market today is dictated by eating habits, meal occasions, taste, health and nutrition and balanced price. The consuming public is on a quest to any of these opportunities. Having the right item to put in the shelves is key to marketability.