Hi
Thank you for contacting CSM.

Cupcakes and Custom/ Specialty cakes are continuing their double digit growth in the Grocery channel and will continue to become popular. The cupcake craze started several years ago in Manhattan with a company called Magnolia Bakery and has continued in LA with a cupcake company called Sprinkles. You see cupcake shops across the US. There is a new popular trends towards offering a cake on a stick or in a shape of a ball which is becoming extremely popular. It smaller than a cupcake and is bite sized. I would certainly explore this offering in your new bakery. Best of Luck but I think it’s a brilliant idea.

Hi!
Thank you for contacting CSM.

I believe consumers are being adventurous in texture and flavors. So Hot new flavors trends and ethnic flavor trends are making an impact in baking perhaps in fusion flavors or combining a savory appeal with a sweet product. I believe the fusion flavors that we see in chocolate candy like Sea Salt and Chocolate or Bacon and Chocolate from Vosges is becoming introduced in specialty shops but the popularity becoming more mainstream over the next few year.

Hot Flavor Trends

Sweet + Heat: Ancho Chile BBQ, Spicy Honey-Red Pepper, Lime-Pepper

New Ingredients: Chorizo and duck becoming mainstream, advertising use of dark meat chicken

Middle Eastern & North African Flavors: Dates, quinoa, hummus, couscous, flaxseed, flatbread

Focus on Greens for Flavor: Endive, arugula, etc.

Asian Popularity Continues: Asian, Vietnamese, Tandoori

Hope this helps!

Hi!
Thank you for contacting CSM.

Bagels are one of the those items that has some regional differences on types so it diffently depends on the location you are most interest in serving for the right ‘style’ of bagel. The boiled bagel is the most popular however texture and consistency will be based on regional preferences. As far as flavors, the plain jane bagel remains the standard flavor and the best selling in dollars. Below are the top 10 flavors in Nielsen on the Grocery channel and their percent sales versus year ago for the 2009 versus 2008.

Dollar Percent Change versus Year Ago
Cinnamon Raisin 7%
Wheat -2%
Blueberry 6%
Everything 16%
Onion -2%
Honey Wheat 4%
Cinnamon 2%
Brown Sugar 2%
Egg -10%
Grain -9%

Hope this helps!

Thank you for contacting CSM.

High fructose corn syrup is more processed than cane or beet sugar. HFCS is produced by a complex series of chemical reactions that includes the use of three enzymes and caustic soda. The most common form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS-55) is similar in composition to sucrose, having 55% fructose and 45% glucose. The other commonly used form of HFCS is HFCS-42 which has about 42% fructose which is less fructose than found in sucrose (table sugar). Some see the pervasiveness of the inexpensive sweetener as a symbol of the ill effects of government subsidies given to large agribusiness interests like corn growers. The most common argument has to do with the rapid rise of obesity in the US, which began in the 1980s, not long after industrial-grade high-fructose corn syrup was invented

Two-thirds of US consumers are trying to reduce their consumption of HFCS, and many are aware of HFCS-free products. Many worry that HFCS is worse for them than sugar. According to the NPD Group, more than half of Americans (53%) are concerned that high-fructose corn syrup may pose a health hazard, up from 40% in 2004
About 44% of US grocery shoppers indicate they have heard or read about food products marketed as free of high-fructose corn syrup according to a CRA 2009 survey Major brands are removing HFCS from some of their products in favor of sugar (e.g. Hunt’s ketchup, Gatorade and Wheat Thins). Many are explicitly communicating so; in 2009, about 107 new foods and beverages launched globally made a “no high fructose corn syrup” claim, up from 88 in 2008. Industry players do need to beware that trumpeting sugar could undermine other products in the portfolio continuing to use HFCS. In the end, it seems that perception is all important, irrespective of the ongoing nutritional debate. Whether naturally derived ingredients are actually healthier is less important than the consumer perception of this being true.

Specifically in the Bread category other claims such as Made with Whole Grain ingredients, Contains No preservatives and High in fiber are stronger in appeal to the average consumer than No High Fructose corn syrup.

Hi Adriana
Thank you for contacting CSM.

For the Fresh Cake Category, the month of May is by far the highest volume month in the year followed by the traditional Christmas Holiday season. The month of May has Graduations and by far the biggest holiday being Mother’s Day for Cakes.