Premiumisation is driving bakery category growth, with shoppers increasingly looking for café-style and higher-quality bakery experiences at home, creating opportunities for retailers to increase category value. The St Pierre brand is growing more than six times faster than the total bakery occasions sector, supported by distribution gains, marketing investment and innovation across breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacking occasions.
The company believes innovation, premium positioning and strong in-store visibility are key drivers of incremental sales growth for retailers.
Louise Reynard, Head of UK Sales at St Pierre Bakery, tells Grocery Trader what sets the brand apart from others and how retailers can maximise sales of the category.
How much is the UK bread and bakery market worth? Is the category in growth? What is driving the growth?
The UK bakery market remains one of the country’s largest grocery categories, growing by more than 3% year on year in value, with bread and morning goods continuing to play an important role in everyday shopping habits.1
While volume growth has been more challenging due to changing shopping habits and economic pressures, value growth continues to be driven by premiumisation as consumers seek higher-quality bakery experiences. Industry data shows speciality bakery segments are growing significantly faster than the total bread market, creating opportunities for retailers to drive trade-up and increase category value. Shoppers are increasingly looking for products that deliver café-style experiences at home while continuing to prioritise taste, quality and versatility, even amid ongoing cost pressures.
For retailers, the opportunity lies in offering products that help shoppers elevate everyday occasions while delivering stronger value into the category.
How is your brand performing?
St Pierre continues to outperform the wider bakery category, with more than one in five UK households now purchasing the brand and household penetration increasing year on year.
Growth is being driven across all key consumption occasions, with St Pierre growing faster than its respective sectors in breakfast, lunch, evening meal and continental occasions. Year to date, the brand is growing at more than six times the rate of the total bakery occasions sector, demonstrating the strength of both the St Pierre brand and the premium bakery segment as a whole.2
Growth has been supported by increased distribution, continued marketing investment and innovation, helping bring new shoppers into the brand while encouraging existing shoppers to engage more frequently with the premium bakery category.
What are your best-known products?
Our brioche range remains at the heart of the brand, led by Brioche Buns, Seeded Brioche Buns, Brioche Hot Dog Rolls and Sliced Brioche Loaf. These products have helped establish St Pierre as one of the UK’s leading premium bakery brands, offering shoppers a simple way to elevate everyday meals and entertaining occasions.
Alongside brioche, our breakfast portfolio is becoming increasingly important, with croissants and croissant-based innovation helping us tap into growing demand for premium breakfast and brunch occasions.
What are the major trends and developments affecting your category and your customers, and how are you responding?
Three key trends are shaping the bakery category. Firstly, premiumisation remains a major driver of value growth, with shoppers actively seeking products that bring something special to everyday meals.
Secondly, versatility is increasingly important. Consumers are looking for products that work across multiple occasions and offer greater value from every purchase.
Thirdly, there is growing demand for new experiences, particularly through hybrid formats and internationally inspired products. Research shows that 60% of UK bakery shoppers would like to see more global baked goods and pastries available (Mintel, April 2026).
At St Pierre, we’re responding through innovation, category-first launches and a continued focus on premium French-inspired bakery products that help retailers attract shoppers, drive trade-up and unlock incremental category value.
What sets your brand apart from others?
St Pierre occupies a unique position within bakery, combining premium French-inspired credentials with products that are accessible, versatile and suitable for everyday use. Our range allows shoppers to elevate ordinary eating occasions, whether that’s breakfast, lunch, dinner or entertaining at home.
We’re also committed to bringing genuine innovation to the category. Rather than simply offering another version of an existing product, our focus is on creating products that generate excitement, attract new shoppers and deliver incremental value for retailers.
How does St Pierre cover a breadth of meal occasions?
Versatility is one of our biggest strengths. The St Pierre portfolio caters to every meal occasion and, with formats spanning brioche, breakfast pastries and continental bakery, the brand can be enjoyed throughout the day.
From breakfast and brunch through to lunch, dinner, snacking and entertaining, St Pierre gives retailers the opportunity to engage shoppers across multiple occasions and missions. That breadth of appeal helps maximise fixture productivity while driving value growth from a single premium brand.
The portfolio also benefits from a generous shelf life, helping retailers maintain availability, minimise waste and offer shoppers consistently high-quality bakery products.
Do you have any NPD coming up?
Innovation remains a key part of our growth strategy and we continue to invest in category-first products that create excitement for shoppers while delivering incremental opportunities for our retail partners. This year has already seen the launch of Croissant Loaf and All Butter Croissant Rolls, both of which have brought genuine innovation to the bakery fixture.
The Croissant Loaf, in particular, is flying. The product really seems to have captured hearts and minds on social media and we have achieved incredible reach with organic posts from high profile influencers that have had direct positive impact on our rate of sale. Shoppers are actively seeking the product out and it’s introduced the brand to a new audience.
Croissant Rolls have also shown strong momentum, with rate of sale doubling following secondary placement activity in-store, highlighting the role that visibility and merchandising can play in driving shopper engagement and category growth.
Looking ahead, we’re continuing to build our breakfast and snacking offer with the launch of St Pierre Chocolate & Hazelnut Filled Croissants. The new six-pack product has secured listings across Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Co-op and will reach more than 2,200 stores nationwide, giving retailers a premium bakery proposition designed to tap into growing breakfast and snacking occasions.
We’re also expanding our lunch and evening meals portfolio with the launch of two new sandwich roll products – Mediterranean Herb Brioche Rolls and Soft Pretzel Rolls. Available from September, both products were developed to support shopper convenience, with a four-pack format, strong shelf appeal and sizes specifically suited to sandwich occasions to drive incremental value within lunch and evening meals.
Across all of our innovation activity, the focus remains the same: identifying unmet shopper needs, creating differentiation within the fixture and helping retailers unlock additional value through premium bakery products that span multiple occasions throughout the day.
How are Croissant Loaf and Croissant Rolls performing so far?
As highlighted above, both products have delivered encouraging results since launch and demonstrate the value that genuine innovation can bring to the bakery category.
More broadly, both launches reflect growing consumer appetite for products that deliver something different from traditional bakery formats. By combining familiar bakery occasions with innovative formats and premium credentials, we are helping to create excitement within the fixture which is fantastic for the St Pierre brand but also supports incremental growth for the entire bakery category.
What marketing support do you have for the brand?
We continue to invest heavily in building brand awareness and driving shopper demand.
Our support programme includes national advertising campaigns, PR, shopper marketing, social media, influencer partnerships, digital activity and in-store activation. We also invest in merchandising solutions, point-of-sale materials and promotional activity designed to help retailers maximise visibility and sales.
Alongside this, we work closely with our retail partners to ensure St Pierre’s premium positioning is reflected effectively in store, helping shoppers navigate the fixture and understand the role the brand can play across different occasions.
Our focus is always on driving footfall to the fixture, increasing shopper engagement and helping retailers unlock additional value from the bakery category.
How can retailers maximise sales of the category?
Premiumisation continues to be one of the biggest drivers of growth within bakery, so retailers should ensure their ranges give shoppers a compelling reason to trade up.
Products that work across multiple occasions can deliver particularly strong value because they appeal to a broader range of shopper missions. Innovation is equally important, helping attract additional shoppers, create excitement within the fixture and encourage incremental purchases.
Retailers should also consider the role of visibility and secondary siting. The performance of Croissant Loaf and Croissant Rolls in secondary placements through stores highlights how effective placement can significantly improve shopper engagement and rate of sale.
Maintaining strong availability, creating clear occasion-led merchandising and ensuring shoppers can easily find premium brands, all remain critical to maximising category performance.
How do you work with retailers to help them grow sales?
We see our retail customers as strategic partners and work closely with them to identify growth opportunities within bakery.
That means sharing category and shopper insight, supporting new product launches, creating tailored promotional activity and helping retailers optimise merchandising and positioning to maximise sales performance. We also look at the role St Pierre can play across different occasions and shopper missions, helping retail partners make the most of the brand’s breadth, versatility and visual impact within the fixture.
Our goal is not simply to sell products. It’s to help retailers grow value within total bakery by offering premium products that shoppers actively seek out, recognise and increasingly buy as part of their everyday repertoire.
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