St Pierre Groupe – the international branded bakery business with St Pierre, Baker Street and Paul Hollywood bakery brands in its portfolio – has experienced phenomenal growth in the past three years – particularly in the wholesale sector.
Its flagship brand, St Pierre is quickly becoming a household name in the UK, America, Middle East & Ireland whilst its extended-life brand, Baker Street is also celebrating double-digit growth in the wholesale sector, allowing the business to double the size of its UK commercial and marketing teams since 2019.
Wholesale Manager spoke to St Pierre Groupe Commercial Director Chris McLaughlin, to understand how the bakery sector is recovering post-pandemic, and how St Pierre Groupe and its brands are working with wholesalers to drive post-pandemic sales.
Chris McLaughlin joined the business in 2019 to accelerate distribution across the UK. Previously, McLaughlin spent eight years as Sales & Marketing Director at All About Food and prior to that was responsible for 25 per cent of Kellogg’s’ UK business as part of the senior leadership team there. In his role as Commercial Director, McLaughlin leads a team distributing St Pierre Groupe products into the retail, wholesale and foodservice sectors in the UK, Ireland and Middle East.
How much is the bread category worth? Is it in growth? What is driving the growth?
Sales in bakery have stabilised over the past 3 months to £3bn which puts the category up only 0.1 per cent on last year. However, whilst the market might look static, the category is back in growth and it’s key to understand the subsectors that are driving the uplift.
Value sales on sliced bread are down by 1 per cent on last year, but the category is being supported by 4.2 per cent growth in the morning goods subsector and most notably, 4.6 per cent growth in value sales through branded rolls.
The move towards premiumisation in lower value categories that was accelerated by the pandemic is here to stay. Consumers are now acutely aware that a simple upgrade in a bread carrier can elevate an entire meal; that means it’s more important than ever for retailers and food service operators to offer a premium option – and that creates opportunity for wholesalers. (Nielsen to 2nd July ’22)
Is the market likely to grow post-lockdown?
In short, yes. Sales of sliced bread will continue to stabilise now that the country is returning to normal post-pandemic and shifts in consumer behaviour that highlighted morning goods and rolls as sub-sectors to watch are still very much at play. Across all three sub-sectors, it’s the brands and products offering something over and above the standard product range that will win.
In the last 12 months, innovative products from Bertinet Kitchen and Jason’s Sourdough have established themselves very quickly in the top 20 brands for loaves. In bread rolls, it’s a similar story.
The category has grown by £16.4m in the last year, mostly driven by brands offering an upgrade from the everyday. St Pierre is leading the way with its range of Brioche Burger Buns and Hot Dog Rolls; in fact, a quarter of growth of the rolls category in the last two years has been driven by the brand, which is the fastest growing top 30 brand in bakery.
In morning goods, it’s sweet treats that are driving growth, including croissants, pains au chocolat, brioche and pancakes. Again, this demonstrates growth for adventurous breakfasts as people look for more than a traditional bowl of cereal or slice of toast.
What are your key products that wholesalers should be stocking?
As mentioned, the products driving sales in both retail and wholesale sectors are those which offer the ‘better’ and ‘best’ in a ‘good, better, best’ selection. Wholesalers need to ensure their range is delivering enough choice for their customers. St Pierre’s Brioche Burger Buns and Seeded Brioche Burger Buns are now the 2nd and 5th best-selling products in wholesale bakery, thanks to year-on-year sales growth of 63 per cent and 129 per cent respectively. St Pierre’s Brioche Hot Dog Rolls are also up 124 per cent in wholesale sales – testament to the fact that retailers and food service operators alike are looking to their wholesalers to offer a premium option.
Whilst the premium end is important for wholesalers, the middle-ground of ‘good, better, best’ is also an important sales driver – and Baker Street provides quality bakery with extended life which brings its own benefits for wholesalers and their customers. Baker Street’s range of long-life burger buns and hot dog rolls are all achieving double digit growth in wholesale sales as a result.
Growth in the morning goods sector over the past two years also means that St Pierre’s range of croissants, pains au chocolat and chocolate-filled crepes are up 54, 19 and 54 per cent respectively – making them a must-stock for wholesalers. (IRI SalesOut One View Data to end June ’22)
How are your brands performing within the bakery category?
In the wholesale sector, St Pierre is up 70 per cent year on year and 103 per cent on 2020 sales, whilst Baker Street is up 25 per cent. St Pierre Groupe brands are up 48 per cent on last year in the wholesale sector and the overall picture is equally positive (IRI Sales Out One View Data to end June ’22).
St Pierre Groupe is now the fifth biggest branded bakery supplier and fastest growing bakery supplier in the last 52, 12 & 4 weeks growing at 21 per cent. The St Pierre brand itself is now the fifth biggest brand in the last 4 and 12 weeks, too and our growth is set to continue with new products coming down the track. (Nielsen to 2nd July ’22)
What point of difference do your brands have over competitors?
We pride ourselves on the quality of our brands and product ranges. We invest heavily and continually in product quality and development, with a first-class quality and compliance team at the heart of the business. It’s our quality that sets our brands apart over and above anything else and keeps customers in wholesale, retail and foodservice coming back time and again.
At St Pierre Groupe, all of our products benefit from extended life. As a result, we are helping reduce wastage and increase availability for our wholesale and retail partners.
Finally, our team is second-to-none and gives us a real advantage. As a business, our headcount has trebled since 2020 and roughly a quarter of those new team members have bolstered our sales and marketing teams. That means we are able to offer unrivalled insight to our customers thanks to investment in category data and market research; our marketing team is an award-winning outfit and we provide outstanding brand support to our partners.
How can wholesalers maximise sales from the bakery category?
Make the most of the data. Savvy retailers will stock the best, fastest sellers to make sure they’re providing customers the best offering. That also means offering options to ‘trade up’. The average cost of a pack of rolls in the convenience sector is anywhere between £1.20 and £1.50. St Pierre and Baker Street Burger Buns sell at a substantial premium per pack which means there is fantastic potential to drive profits.
Whilst offering a ‘good, better, best’ range is a great idea, it’s important not to overwhelm the fixture. Too much choice can make it more difficult to manage availability and increase wastage, so be selective in the brands and product choices you offer – making sure to keep an eye on the brands and products that are driving growth in the category.
Finally, communicating the benefits of longer life products to your customers will help maximise sales. The average retailer has to throw away close to 10 per cent of their stock, so you can drive sales through the wholesale channel whilst reducing wastage for retailers and food service operators.
How do you work with wholesalers to help them grow their business?
The bakery category is fast-moving and ever-changing. We invest a huge amount in research and insight so that we can be helpful to our customers and we take notes on what the competition is doing. As a sector, it’s dynamic and we are leading the way, trying new things and working in partnership with our customers to get the best results.
We’re also transparent with our findings. The team are in the depots and stores every week, reporting back on trends, NPD and merchandising. We are producing independent bakery reviews that we share with our partners. Insight is central to everything we do and we share that because when our customers do well, we do well.
Do you have any NPD at the moment?
In October this year, St Pierre will launch a multipack of Mini Brioche Buns. Inspired by the trend in food service for sliders and sharing plates, the Mini Brioche Buns will offer the outstanding quality for which the brand is known, in a smaller format. They have the same extended-life benefits, but will come in a larger-pack size of 10 and meet the demand for more premium offerings across the bakery category.
St Pierre is the UK’s best-tasting brioche and so the Mini Buns are a natural next step for us to continue delivering products that are in demand and will ultimately drive sales for our wholesale partners.
What marketing support do you have for your brands?
Our next key time of year, following natural uplifts in the summer season, occur around Halloween and bonfire.
For the past two years, across both Baker Street and St Pierre, we’ve seen an uplift of almost 30 per cent in the two weeks covering the Halloween and Bonfire Night periods – so clearly there is opportunity to maximise sales. We will be running a range of marketing activity for both brands to drive awareness and trial during this key sales period; we are planning a mix of in-store marketing materials, new brand creatives and consumer-facing campaigns planned for the season.
Beyond that, we obviously have plans to support Christmas, too. For Baker Street, this means an extension of the hugely successful Christmas markets range, whilst for St Pierre, as well as supporting NPD, we will be updating on-pack creatives and new recipe suggestions to highlight usability of the product at a key time of year. Christmas for Paul Hollywood and the part-baked category is always a key moment. We will be upweighting consumer marketing activity around Paul Hollywood from November to support sales.
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