KANSAS CITY, MO. — Tortilla and flatbread sales surged significantly during the early phases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as at-home cooking increased, and now that restaurants have reopened and consumers have returned to normal activities, the foodservice sector has picked up.
“In 2021, restaurants returned, but not at the expense of at-home cooking,” observed Jim Kabbani, the Tortilla Industry Association CEO. “We’re currently seeing a situation where retail and at-home tortilla consumption are high, while foodservice consumption has recovered.” And the combined effect of these two trends is an increase in overall consumption.”
According to IRI data for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2021, total retail dollar sales for tortillas and flatbreads fell slightly, falling 0.3 percent to a little under $3.8 billion. Tortilla sales dropped 0.9 percent to around $3 billion, while flatbread sales increased 4.8 percent to $365 million. Tortillas and flatbreads saw the most gain in the perimeter/fresh food category, with sales rising by 8% to over $256 million.
“That fresh area is only 7% of tortilla and flatbread sales, so it’s extremely modest,” noted Melissa Altobelli, principal, client insights, dairy and bakery vertical, IRI. “This is because more self-service places are now available, and people are going out and celebrating more, purchasing things for parties or holidays.”
Dollar sales in both categories increased in the fourth quarter, although volume sales fell, which Ms. Altobelli attributes to inflation. She anticipates that this trend will continue into early 2022 before leveling out later that year.
“Volume will most likely continue to fall due to inflation,” Ms. Altobelli said. “Higher prices force people to cut back while increasing consumer mobility forces individuals to dine out more.” However, as we return to restaurants and other places to buy these things, there will be a softening in volume drops. We acknowledge that by the end of 2022, tortillas and flatbreads will have returned to pre-2019 volume levels.”
Flatbreads thrive.
The healthy growth of flatbreads in 2021 was led by a few businesses that effectively presented new uses and varieties of bread to consumers.
According to Ms. Altobelli, the majority of the category’s growth was driven by Toronto-based FGF Brands’ Stonefire brand. According to IRI, the bakery’s sales will increase by 40.4 percent to $64.8 million in 2021. The company sells a popular variety of naan bread, including classic, roasted garlic, whole-grain types, and small naans and naan dippers.
Naan is only one example of how manufacturers have successfully introduced flatbreads from various culinary backgrounds to fulfill consumer demand.
“We’re seeing a lot of new global styles emerge and gaining importance with audiences who aren’t familiar with them,” said Claire Lancaster, senior strategist, food and drink, WGSN. “Manakish, a spherical flatbread similar to Arab pizza, is gaining popularity.” Northern Chinese flatbreads, Italian flatbreads, and even certain African types are becoming popular.”
Toufayan Bakeries in Ridgefield, NJ, for example, serves tandoori, an Indian-style flatbread. The bakery is also experimenting with Mediterranean flavors in its flatbreads.
“Introducing Mediterranean flavors like zaatar with your flatbread might be a 2022 trend,” said Karen Toufayan, Vice president of marketing and sales at Toufayan Bakeries. “So it’s a zaatar-flavored tandoori, not just a basic tandoori.”
As the flatbread category grows, consumers will be exposed to many different styles and flavors worldwide.
“Right now, several other sorts of flatbreads are less recognized to the North American audience that we think will rise in popularity in the next few years,” Ms. Lancaster explained.
Increasing the healthy halo
Many customers see tortillas and flatbreads as healthier than regular bread, even though they are frequently higher in calories, salt, and fat when compared side by side. As a result, consumer demand for gluten-free, vegan, and low-carb tortillas and flatbreads has surged. At the same time, customers are getting savvier, reading product labels to understand better what they’re consuming and what’s considered healthy.
Bakeries respond by producing goods that suit these expectations while maintaining the category’s healthy halo. Toufayan Bakeries’ nutritious goods have been a huge hit.
“Our gluten-free tortilla wrap is our best-selling item online, and our whole wheat pita bread is a close second,” Ms. Toufayan added. “Without a doubt, the biggest trends are Smart Grain and low carb.”
Ms. Toufayan characterizes the bakery’s low-carb Smart Pockets as a traditional American style of pita bread produced with sprouted grains, similar to their low-carb wrap.
Mission Foods in Irving, Texas, sells “Carb Balance” tortillas in flour, whole wheat, spinach herb, and sundried tomato basil varieties. The tortillas qualify as an excellent source of fiber and have as few as 3 grams of net carbohydrates. According to IRI, the famous line grew its sales by 26.9 percent in the most recent period to $307.4 million. Gruma SAB de CV, Monterrey, Mexico, which owns Mission Foods, has stated that it intends to launch more of these healthier goods in the future.
“The client base we’ve been able to build for our better-for-you line has enabled us to create some stable levels of growth for these products, which is part of our strategy to increase their composition in the portfolio from single digits to 25 percent currently,” Adolfo Fritz, Gruma’s investor relations officer, said during an earnings call last October. “Our objective is to keep pushing forward in order to further extend the composition with these products, making our portfolio more profitable over time.”
Although flour and maize tortillas continue to dominate the market, manufacturers also produce healthier grain-free alternatives.
Mission has updated its better-for-you range with gluten-free and vegan almond flour and cauliflower tortillas. In addition, Siete Family Foods, Austin, Texas, which increased its dollar sales by 54.5 percent in 2021, sells almond, chickpea, and cassava flour tortillas.
Mr. Kabbani highlighted that flatbreads have been slower to enter the grain-free and vegan spaces. However, this is beginning to change. Trader Joe’s, for example, now sells a cauliflower thin, a gluten-free flatbread cauliflower alternative.
Toufayan Bakeries is also leading the trend with healthier flatbreads.
“All of our flatbreads are vegan by nature.” “In addition to our naturally vegan wraps, pita bread, and tandoori, we’re the only vegan naan bread on the market,” Ms. Toufayan added. “We certainly tick the demand box, and there is a demand for plant-based diets.”
According to IRI, the health claims with the highest dollar increase for tortillas and wraps are high fiber (20.8 percent), no sugar (26.9 percent), sweetener-free (23.3 percent), no artificial ingredients (10.9 percent), and gluten-free (7.8 percent). Tortillas also witnessed a significant rise in low-calorie claims, with 5 to 40 calories gaining the most (84.1 percent ).
The authored article is written by Darshana Joshi and shared with Prittle Prattle News exclusively.
