Slice of Heaven?

Slice of Heaven?

Current Affairs programme, Close Up (TVNZ), recently demonstrated results that were at odds with consumer expectations that supermarket bread was baked fresh daily. The programme, with the help of David Russell from the Consumers Institute, uncovered that some supermarket bagged and sliced bread had been on shelf up to four days. Russell even found one loaf in his local supermarket that was "technically, in breach of the Food Code" with its misleading labelling.

Bakers Delight Country Manager, Colleen Milne, says that bread buyers are often unaware how long 'fresh' bread has been sitting on supermarket shelves and they don't check tags regularly enough.

"The biggest difference between Bakers Delight loaves and supermarket bread is that Bakers Delight only sells bread that is baked that day. We pride ourselves on producing the freshest bread of the highest standard. That means no preservatives, added sugar, colour or artificial flavouring," says Milne.

Close Up demonstrated how supermarket bread labels can confuse consumers: they either have only the use-by date, best before date or baked on/for date. Unless consumers call the 0800 help line, there is often no way of knowing how old your supermarket bread is.

"Freshness and quality is really important to New Zealanders. You either need to stop and read the tags or shop at specialty bakeries, like Bakers Delight, where you are guaranteed fresh bread. Bakers Delight bakes from scratch every day and either throws out or gives to charity any left-over bread," says Milne.

Bakers Delight has a large variety of both traditional and speciality breads, not to mention an expanding range of healthy products. All Bakers Delight bread is baked fresh daily from scratch, on-site at every bakery, is preservative free, and uses all natural ingredients.

In line with global trends towards "getting closer to your food" by purchasing foods direct from the producer, as well as the growth of farmer's markets, New Zealand consumers are increasingly choosing fresh bread. Statistics obtained in October 2006 by the Herald on Sunday confirm that bakeries are taking almost 20 percent of bread sales from supermarkets. In Australia the figure is now as much as 40 percent.

"Bakers Delight is committed to freshness, quality and the health of our customer. The consumer response is evident in the increased sales and move towards fresh bread from specialty stores," says Milne.

ENDS

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