Why bakery foods and home baking remain hot trends

October 2022

Home baking became a hot trend when Covid lock-downs hit in 2020, and it’s not done. Interest in home baking remains strong, fueled by a heightened appreciation for premium bakery foods at home, as well as from the grocery store, restaurant, or even the local convenience store. Here are six reasons why:

1. Home Rediscovered

At home, 2020’s novice bakers have become 2022’s bakery culinarians. While they may have started with sour dough baked in an Amazon purchased bread making machine, they’ve had more than two years to perfect their skills and expand their repertoire.  They’re after new tastes and textures based on high quality, healthy, sustainable ingredients. Like bold, wild harvested American Black Walnuts (link to great seasonal recipes). Black Walnuts represent the trend to bolder, distinctive flavors from natural, sustainable sources. And they can easily be found online or in a growing number of grocery stores.

2. Premium Bakery Foods

This interest also has supported a rise in premium bakery foods in-store. With restrictions gone, people are out more and have less time for home baking. But many still want a higher level of variety, quality and good nutrition. In fact, a full 93% of commercial bakers indicated that they are somewhat to very positive about their prospects on store shelves for 2022, according to a recent survey conducted by Baking Business.

“Since they couldn’t go out to restaurants, people began treating themselves to more restaurant-quality products at home. And the trend is persisting even now that restrictions have been lifted,” according to a recent article in PerishableNews.com. Since Black Walnuts pack more flavor and nutrition than common, cultivated walnuts, they’re a key part of the trend.

3. Work from Home

Like the receding tide after a hurricane, Covid’s wake leaves behind some enduring lifestyle changes. Among the most significant is the hybrid working model. Many employers made work at home a permanent option. It saves time and expense. And many workers like the flexibility. That flexibility means more time for food preparation, but not enough time to frequently bake from scratch.  This creates demand for high quality pre-mixed and nutritious prepared ingredients that don’t require much extra work—like chopping, cutting, sifting, or mixing. And these customers want variety and new flavors, like American Black Walnuts. One in five consumers said they shop more often in stores’ fresh prepared section than they did before the pandemic, according to a survey by location technology company Bluedot earlier this year.

4. Inflation and Economic Uncertainty

Inflation also is driving in-home innovation. With the price of ready to eat foods, such as power bars, skyrocketing, home baking provides an alternative that can be more economical and personalized. Like substituting the bolder flavor and nutritional value of Black Walnuts for blander commercial tree nuts. “2022 is going to be about intense, bold, and spicy flavors,” IRI’s Sally Lyons Wyatt, Executive Vice President, stated on a recent YouTube video by Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery.

5. Demand for Bold Flavors and Good Nutrition

This bold flavor trend also is changing the way people enjoy their favorite comfort foods. From pumpkin pie to banana bread, bold flavors are being introduced, often through healthy inclusions such as flax seed, whole grains, and American Black Walnuts.

“Generally, 2022 and into 2023 will continue to see increased demand for healthier bakery options, less sugar and fat – more protein and power ingredients such as fruit, fiber, and grain. The need to relax and take a moment is now seen as part of healthier eating, and treats featuring real chocolate, as well as citrus, will be popular ‘time outs’,” states a recent report from MAURI, a global bakery market insights company based in Australia.

6. The Incredible Black Walnut

This experimentation with new flavors and inclusions is an important part of the post-Covid home baking trend.  Many have discovered that American Black Walnuts offer a robust, new flavor experience. These uncultivated, wild grown native American tree nuts have a strong nutritional profile and have been popular for generations of bakers in Central and Southern states.

Black Walnuts are a rich source of phytosterols, especially beta-sitosterol, which have been shown to help prevent obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease while promoting lower cholesterol, lower inflammation and anticancer activity, according to a 2019 report published in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis.

Today, Black Walnuts are receiving growing attention for their superfood status and sustainability, and key role in providing essential nutrients in support of optimal health through diet. Black Walnut pieces, oil, and a new high protein flour are in the vanguard of new product development. They are poised to become even more important in support of good health.

Black Walnuts—the Bold, Wild Walnut.

Please contact us for more insight and information on this heart-healthy superfood and why its popularity is growing.

The Hammons Black Walnut Family
Phone: 1-888-429-6887 or direct at 417-276-5181
Website: http://www.black-walnuts.com/