Premium Breads in Vogue

Image: Hemal Sheth

Bread took a while to reach Indian dining tables; even now, most of us prefer our wheat products unleavened. When you saw bread on menus, the default tended to be white bread. Until the last few years, that is.

Brown bread started making its presence felt in 2004. It gradually took up more of the basket over the next few years, moving from the five-star bakeries to also find a small place in the corner shop.

In 2008, our sources in a few 5-star hotels told us, sales suddenly accelerated. It looks like the recession was trumped by increasing health consciousness.

In less than a decade, ‘premium’ breads (aside from brown bread, this includes whole wheat, multi-grain, flax seed, pumpernickel and others) now has a major slice of the market: They now account for 70 percent of sales from high end bakeries.

And the bakers aren’t complaining. They know which side of their bread is buttered. Premium breads earns them, on the average, about Rs. 9 more per loaf than white bread. Let’s raise a toast to that.