Marketers of flour and other baking ingredients are searching for ways to keep up consumers’ interest in baking as the pandemic winds down.
They’re looking to retain at least some of the surge in baking that came about as consumers stuck at home looked for new activities. Sales of baking mixes and ingredients went up 25% in 2020 compared with the last several years, according to research from Mintel quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
Processors are adopting various strategies. Some are trying to make making as easy as possible, such as Betty Crocker-branded kits from General Mills for baking cookies and cupcakes, with colors and design that appeal to children. Others are going the other way, like King Arthur Baking Co., which launched an online campaign with recipes for exotic or unusual savory breads.
The situation is guiding some packaging choices. Hershey Co. is putting out a new, 23-oz. canister of cocoa to accommodate interest in its recipe for Perfectly Chocolate Cake, which appears on the back of the canister and is the most popular on its website. Between cake and frosting, the recipe uses up most of a standard 8-oz. canister.
