This technical toolkit, developed by 桃色视频 in collaboration with Fedima, provides practical guidance to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in increasing the whole grain content of bread products across Europe. It addresses the current lack of harmonised definitions and regulatory frameworks for whole grains at EU level.
Key findings and guidance:
- Health benefits and consumption gaps: Whole grains provide fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other bioactive compounds, and are associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer. Despite these benefits, whole grain intake across Europe remains below recommended levels, highlighting the need for increased availability and consumption of whole grain foods, particularly bread.
- Role of bread in whole grain intake: Bread is a staple food in Europe and represents a major contributor to grain intake. Increasing the whole grain content of bread products offers a significant opportunity to improve dietary fibre intake and overall diet quality among consumers.
- Market and consumer trends: Growing consumer awareness of health and nutrition is driving demand for whole grain products. This creates business opportunities for SMEs to reformulate and innovate bread products with higher whole grain content, supporting product differentiation and responding to evolving consumer preferences.
- Production and technical challenges: Transitioning from refined to whole grain ingredients presents technical challenges related to dough handling, processing conditions, texture, taste and shelf life. Whole grain flour doughs are typically less elastic, more water-absorbing and produce denser products. These challenges can be addressed through recipe adaptation, process optimisation, use of improvers, and adjustments to equipment and baking conditions.
- Product development and labelling: The toolkit outlines practical steps for analysing nutritional composition, calculating whole grain content and adapting recipes. It also highlights regulatory considerations, including the absence of harmonised EU rules for whole grain claims, while noting opportunities to communicate fibre content and nutritional value to consumers.
- Implementation strategies: SMEs are encouraged to adopt a gradual approach by partially replacing refined flour with whole grain flours thus progressively increasing whole grain content. Short-term actions include blending refined grain with whole grain flours and adapting existing recipes, while long-term strategies involve investment in product development, process optimisation and consumer acceptance of taste and texture changes.
This toolkit equips European bakeries with the technical knowledge and practical tools needed to increase whole grain content in bread, improve nutritional quality and contribute to healthier diets. By adopting incremental innovation and best practices, SMEs can successfully navigate technical challenges while meeting growing consumer demand for whole grain products.
