Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
Bread and bakery products in the United States - statistics & facts
Diets in high-income countries such as the United States consist of a lot of fats, animal products, sweeteners, and other products in addition to the ever-present food staples such as bread. Despite the comparatively lower share of staples in the food supply of these nations, staples still make up the majority of food intake. For example, consumers in the United States eat quite a lot of bread annually. Bread consumption in the U.S. amounts to 6.64 billion kilograms, or 19.84 kilograms per capita. In addition to bread, Americans consume a sizable amount of cake and pastry goods, namely 8.6 billion kilograms in 2022.
The U.S. bread and bakery product market
The U.S. bread market generates 23.84 billion U.S. dollars in revenues. Preserved pastry goods and cake add 81 billion dollars bringing the combined total close to 105 billion U.S. dollars. The largest slice of the bread market is made up of leavened bread. Cakes can be broken down into unpackaged and packaged cakes. Roughly two-thirds of the market is comprised of unpackaged cakes, while the rest is packaged. The U.S. is the largest importer of baked goods globally, at 7.8 billion U.S. dollars. The import value far exceeds the value of U.S. exports.Artisanal, private label, and brand performance
The largest share of bread sold in the U.S. is artisanal, in spite of the important position of supermarkets in grocery retail. Only when private label sales and all branded sales are counted together do they amount to a higher sales value than that of artisanal bread, underscoring artisanal importance in this market. For cakes and pastries, artisanal sales are also the leading category. Groupo Bimbo is one of the leading bread and pastry companies operating in the U.S. market. Its brands Sara Lee and Entenmann’s are the leading brands after artisanal and private labels in the bread and pastry categories, respectively.
