20 Dec 2025
When consumers reach for a loaf of bread, it is no longer just about convenience or price1, meaning that as a (semi-)industrial bakery or bakery chain, now is a good time to focus on premiumization. The desire for authentic premium bread with benefits, a story, and rich aroma is strong, with 66% of shoppers choosing trusted, higher-quality options, often purchasing from local bakeries where price isn’t the main deciding factor1.
Discover insights, tips, and premium bakery solutions aimed to help you introduce or upgrade your premium bread offer, directly from the experts.
What is premium bread – and why do consumers love it?
Premium bread refers to products that differentiate themselves through key attributes that justify a higher perceived value for the consumer2. This value proposition goes far beyond the ingredients list, as consumers are prioritizing value over price3. They view premium bread as a "small indulgence" that not only contributes to a healthier lifestyle, but which can enliven everyday meals, providing a "restaurant-quality-at-home" experience3.
What do consumers look for when purchasing premium bread?
Consumers are most interested in premium bread that…
- Offers wholegrain/multi grain options
- Claims high source of fiber
- Shows strong storytelling
- Has innovative flavors (cheese, dried fruits, grains etc.)
- Emphasizes "made with real ingredients"
- Highlights local sourcing
- Incorporates artisanal and traditional craftsmanship
- Uses sourdough
- Has rich texture
The visual appeal is also crucial, as 65% of consumers globally agree food that looks good is tasty. Majority admits the smell of freshly baked goods and all-natural ingredients attracts them as well1.
Taste Tomorrow data further reveals the demand for “naturalness” as an especially strong purchase driver, so naturally, recognizable ingredients like grains and seeds are more likely to earn consumer loyalty.
But a significant number of consumers believe natural foods are hard to find, limiting their ability to pursue healthier eating habits1. As many of Puratos solutions are clean label, incorporating them makes meeting the growing demand for trust and transparency easier, as these ingredients clearly signal genuine quality and high nutritional value.
Premium bread packaging
Because consumers often judge flavor and quality based on appearance, presentation, packaging and marketing can’t be forgotten and are critical sales tools1.
Globally, consumers looked for product information on bakery packaging, with that curiosity spiking to in the MEA region. They’re primarily interested in the ingredients used, followed by the nutritional value, regulated nutrition warning labels, source/origin of the ingredients, and whether preservatives are present1. Keep this in mind when designing your labels.
What types of premium bread do consumers love?
You can apply premiumization to your full range of baked goods. These are the categories where it thrives.
Crusty and artisan-style breads
Consumers are drawn to the rustic charm of artisan-style bread with connection to craftsmanship, characterized by an open crumb, natural fermentation, and visual appeal.
To create that authentic look and rich taste at a large scale, bakers must master high hydration doughs (70-80% hydration17) which are challenging to work with, particularly in large-scale operations. Achieving a consistent open crumb structure demands meticulous process control of time and temperature during extended fermentation and careful handling of the lively, sticky dough.
Brioche and enriched doughs
Brioche offers an elevated and indulgent experience, and 80% of those who tasted it enjoyed it18. It's loved for its signature soft crumb, golden color, and longer shelf life.
Its demand within retail is growing, as consumers now use brioche for everything from breakfast to grilling, often seeking an elevated option to replicate out-of-home treats in their own oven3, 18.
Burger buns and modern classics
Premium buns elevate burgers, particularly in the foodservice sector.
The quality of the bun is now the frontline of premiumization. For instance, 60% of consumers say the type and quality of the bun is "extremely important" or "very important" when ordering a burger, a factor considered more important than the quality of the beef itself4. This focus means that low quality is a risk: a third of consumers would be discouraged from returning to a restaurant that used sub-par buns, making bun quality a powerful element in reputation4.
Croissants and laminated breads
Let's not forget about laminated breads, like croissants. Consumer taste tests found an increasing preference for a 'melting' or 'buttery' taste of this classic French pastry8. Scaling it to industrial levels demands absolute precision, consistency, and total process control. Key technical hurdles include maintaining volume, ensuring consistent lamination quality (even layers), and preventing butter leakage during the freezing and baking stages9.
How to craft bread that performs?
The ability to consistently produce premium bread relies entirely on having the right ingredients, the right process control, and the right partner. These solutions are designed to help you.
Sourdoughs: O-tentic & Sapore
Our ready-to-use sourdoughs, including Sapore and O-tentic offer a natural, traditional, and distinct taste and structure to premium breads10. These solutions provide semi-industrial bakeries and bakery chains with a powerful competitive edge: they deliver consistent quality, convenience, and diverse flavors11, enabling you to save time while expanding your offer. Sourdough is an essential ingredient that naturally adds depth of flavor, enhancing aromas, and expanding product possibilities11.
Trust our deep expertise in sourdough, that is anchored in our commitment to heritage, demonstrated by the Sourdough Institute in Belgium. The institute houses our vast Sourdough Library, which gathers a unique collection of sourdoughs from all over the world11.
Improver: Intens
Puratos improvers provide peace of mind by helping control all the uncertainties within the production process, such as variations in temperature, humidity, flour, and labor12. This capability enables bakeries to ensure consistent results with every batch. You can find improvers that work on a specific applications such as fresh, frozen or packaged applications. Furthermore, you can work with multipurpose improvers or modular improver. When using a modular improver, you target a specific challenge. The Intens range is an example of this, having more concentrated solutions, working on specific functionalities creates a lot of flexibility for customers to improve elements such as texture, shelf life, dough performance, and much more.
Specialty grains and blends
Our range of whole grains and seeds carries a legacy of nutrition and taste14. Whether bakeries are looking to add fiber with whole grains infused with sourdough, sprouted grains, or seed mixes, Puratos has a solution14. These products help fulfill consumer needs for healthier, grain-forward options, providing flavor, texture, and nutritional value, in one.
Mixes
Puratos offers versatile premium bakery solutions, including mixes like Easy Soft'r and Tegral Soft'r, which are ideal for brioche and other soft breads6,13. These mixes can contain technologies like Puraslim (to improve nutritional value by reducing fat and calories) or Soft'r Melting (to ensure optimal freshness and a melting texture)13.
Mimetic lamination fat
If you’d like to ace your laminated premium breads offer, Mimetic lamination fat is a critical solution for baking them at industrial scale. It ensures consistent layering and excellent process control by guaranteeing minimal butter leakage, even during freezing and baking stages 9. It delivers the characteristic rich buttery taste and texture that meets the high consumer demand for quality and indulgence consumers seek.
Sunset Glaze
Since consumers often judge flavor by appearance, achieving a flawless finish is important for the visual appeal that drives premium purchases. Sunset Glaze, our highly effective clean label, plant-based alternative to egg wash provides this final premium touch7. It delivers a consistent golden shine and appealing color that directly attracts the consumer, ensuring your premium product stands out on the shelves. Think of that delicious brioche burger bun we mentioned earlier – with brilliant shine, and no hassle. When using Sunset Glaze, you can also give your premium bread a competitive edge with a smaller carbon footprint!
Bake what’s next: our promise of premium bread innovation
To succeed and scale in the premium bread sector, bakers need continuous support, data, and clear guidance. Puratos’s commitment goes beyond ingredients.
Technical support, sensory labs, and product development
We provide training and support services in our Innovation Centers15 scattered across the globe, where our global team of technical advisors, application specialists, and R&D experts are ready to share their knowledge.
This helps you discover new ingredients, reflect on your production process, and maximize technological innovation to work as efficiently as possible. This service is comprehensive, including assistance with new product implementation and troubleshooting15.
We also offer specialized sensory analysis services, utilizing both sensory expert panels16 and tools like the Sensobus (a fully equipped mobile lab) to detect and measure consumer preferences at the point-of-sale16. This valuable data helps you troubleshoot sales issues, benchmark market potential, and validate texture and flavor combinations16.
Ready to capture the premium bread market? Contact your local Puratos representative to discover the ideal solutions for your product and market, and scale with confidence.
REFERENCES
- Taste Tomorrow data (Information to share - Premium bread)
- Innova Market Insights
- The Rise of Premium Bread: A Small Indulgence That Can Enliven Everyday Meals – Progressive Grocer
- Customers Say Artisan Burger Buns are Worth the Extra Price – Lantmannen Unibake
- Intens Freshness – Puratos
- Easy Soft’r Recipe Booklet – Puratos
- Sunset Glaze – Puratos
- Sourdough Guide: Everything you need to know about sourdough – Puratos
- How to make croissants at industrial scale – Puratos
- Sapore – Puratos
- Sourdough – Puratos
- Bread improvers – Puratos
- Bakery Mixes – Puratos
- Grains and seeds – Puratos
- Training & support – Puratos
- Sensory Analysis – Puratos
- Mastering High Hydration Doughs: A Guide for Professional Bakers – Swiss Bake
- Retail rises with French Brioche – Progressive Grocer
- What’s driving the growth of speciality bread – British Baker
