An increasing number of consumers are shying away from bread—because it’s too high in carbs, or has too much wheat, too much gluten or too much salt. Reinventing a hallowed staple such as bread and bringing it into line with the latest consumer preferences is certainly a challenge for manufacturers, but not impossible, as demonstrated by a number of veggie bread makers. This trend is still very much in the early stages in most markets, but demand is there, and its spread and growth are set to continue.

Bread in Decline
It is no secret that the bread market is not in terribly good shape. Our data show that total bread volumes in the U.S. stagnated over the 2008-2013 review period, while in a significant number of key markets they showed a more marked decline. In the U.K., for example, total bread volumes fell by 6% over the review period, while in Ireland and Italy they suffered a 9% decline. In Spain, they dropped by 16% and in Germany by 3%.

Bread is a staple food in a great number of the world’s regions, and as a firm component of many traditional cuisines, “the staff of life” is widely regarded as untouchable. However, with regard to modern-day consumption habits, the tide seems to be turning in a number of markets, with a rising number of health-conscious consumers actively trying to reduce their bread intake.

There are a number of reasons for the demise of bread within a health and wellness context, not least of which is competition from other types of food as a result of the proliferation of international cuisines. A convenient tray of sushi, for instance, is increasingly replacing the more traditional sandwich in Western markets, especially in the big cities. Sushi combines a much-sought-after exotic taste with the reputation of being just about the healthiest food in the world, although one could argue whether it is really superior to a good quality sandwich in nutritional terms.

Spurned by Dieters and the ‘Intolerant’
Weight management is, of course, also a primary concern. Carbohydrates are the dieter’s enemy once again, and bread is synonymous with carbohydrates. This means that even bread made from whole grains, which previously held a lot of health and wellness cachet, is now being spurned by a once receptive audience.

Then we have the food intolerance issue. Food intolerance emerged as the leading growth category globally over the 2008-2013 review period in health and wellness food and beverages, ahead even of fortified/functional products. Many consumers nowadays attribute a long list of health benefits to the avoidance of gluten and also wheat in general. Indeed, avoiding wheat—to the detriment of bread sales—has become something of a panacea for modern-day ailments, including fatigue, digestive complaints, skin rashes and weight gain.

Vegetables to the Rescue
The upshot is that if bread makers want their product to regain its standing as a healthy food, they need to diversify their offering in a more radical way than ever before. It is no longer enough to slightly reduce the level of salt, add a few whole grains and/or a dash of fiber, or develop a gluten-free version.

What provides a solution on several fronts is the incorporation of vegetables. Most importantly, it helps to zap those pesky carbohydrates, while at the same time upping the fiber content.

The most common strategy employed by individuals wanting to reduce their carbohydrate intake is to replace the traditional carbohydrate component of a meal, such as rice, potatoes or pasta, either wholly or partly with vegetables.

Vegetables are low in carbs and high in minerals, vitamins and also fiber, and as they provide plenty of bulk, they are filling, which makes them the dieter’s prime ally. If bread manufacturers want to get in on the game, then the strategy is clear—replace as much of the flour as possible with vegetable ingredients.

Health Perfection Comes at a Price
London-based sandwich player Plan Bread is an example of a company at the forefront of the bread overhaul game. It is currently bent on re-conquering the U.K. capital’s lunchtime sandwich market by homing in on today’s top health and wellness concerns. The flour for its sandwich bread is made entirely from dried broccoli florets, plus some added fiber. In terms of nutritional properties, broccoli bread has pretty much everything today’s discerning health and wellness consumer could possibly ask for—it has 70% fewer calories than standard bread, has less than a 2% carbohydrate content, a low glycemic index (GI), is wheat-free, gluten-free, yeast-free, soy-free and high in fiber. The texture could benefit from some minor improvements, but consumer feedback has been largely positive.

The company is quite candid about the prohibitive cost factor, which prevents it from selling the product as a loaf instead of distributing it in sandwich format. Plan Bread states that producing a loaf almost entirely made from pricey broccoli costs in the region of £5. In the retail channel, it would have to be sold for double that price, and hence the company does not consider this a viable option. However, there may be plenty of scope for development for mainstream players, perhaps by replacing some of the broccoli flour with another, cheaper-to-source vegetable, and also by leveraging economies of scale.

German natural food company Lifefood Rohkost AG sells packaged Organic Vegetable Bread (Bio Gemüsebrot) under its Lifefood brand. Rather than just being based on one vegetable, it contains stick celery (6%), carrots (5%) and tomatoes (4%), plus dried herbs, linseed and nuts. Another unique selling proposition is that the product has no added salt.

As already alluded to, a high salt content is yet one more issue for which bread periodically comes under fire. Consumers with high blood pressure or with kidney problems, for example, are generally advised by their doctors to curb their salt intake, which usually means cutting down on bread. Celery and tomatoes are naturally high in sodium (a key component of table salt), which is how Lifefood Rohkost manages to produce a palatable product without having to add any extra salt.

All this comes at a cost, however. A 1kg loaf of Lifefood Bio Gemüsebrot retails for close to €40, which would be unacceptable for all but the most dedicated of health-conscious consumers.

Canada’s Bread Barons Go Veggie
More affordably priced vegetable bread for a more average audience is available, however, and Canada is one of the markets where this type of product is now fairly mainstream.

In September 2013, George Weston Ltd, Canada’s leading bread manufacturer, which claims a 19% value share of the country’s bread market, launched Country Harvest Veggie bread, boasting one full serving of vegetables per slice. There are three varieties—Green Pepper and Spinach; Carrot, Celery and Leek; and Tomato, Red Pepper and Zucchini.

George Weston saw its value share contract by almost two percentage points over the 2008-2013 review period, and so embracing this still fairly new trend may help to widen the audience for its products once again.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc, whose Dempster’s is Canada’s leading bread brand, and which maintained a steadfast 10% share over the review period, introduced its Garden Vegetable Bread in July 2013. The product contains carrot and pumpkin, but unlike its rival George Weston’s creation, it only contains one quarter of a vegetable serving per slice.

Vegetable bread is a no-brainer. Consumers are constantly being told to eat more vegetables, and if vegetables tasted as good as bread, they would be so much easier to consume. Conversely, if bread’s “undesirable” qualities (at least in the eyes of today’s health and wellness consumers) can be reduced or even eliminated by the addition of vegetables, then veggie bread may well turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread, with a great future ahead.