By Paul Roggema, European Correspondent,
APPLIANCE Magazine
http://www.appliancemagazine.com/editorial.php?article=438&zone=208&first=1
It has been around for many years,
but recently the bread maker widened
its presence in the European market.
It can be seen now in any white
goods store and recipes are turning
up in cooking magazines. What is
happening here?
“The bread maker has been
around for about 20 years, with
fluctuating popularity, but sales
are really reaching new highs,”
explains Gerard van Loon, director
of Product Development of Princess
Household Appliances in The Netherlands.
“Especially the German market
is booming. Remember that in the
German-speaking and Scandinavian
countries, bread is a main food,
where in Italy and France it is
a side dish for other foods. We
enjoy good growth in the Italian
market.”
According to Mr. van Loon, bread
baking is “fun” cooking?
“People like to have fresh,
sometimes warm bread, at any moment,
without having to go shopping,”
he says. “Special recipes
can be tried: just for taste (raisins
or nuts) or for health reasons,
allergies, or diets. Also, ethnic
needs can easily be met.”
From a manufacturer’s perspective,
it takes preparation to write the
users’ manual. While the appliance
is identical, the recipes vary per
country, so careful research is
needed. At first, customers tend
to buy all the ingredients separate.
After a while, many switch to pre-mixed
products. The trend is that the
mix manufacturers get together with
the hardware companies to improve
the total process.
Basic functions are mixing, rising,
sometimes re-mixing, and, of course,
baking. Motor and heating components
do not vary much among models; the
main differences are in the control
unit. More expensive models offer
more programs. However, a customer
can always use the manual option
and adjust the timing of the three
stages (temperature is mostly fixed).
The trend is away from standard
(programmable) chips toward custom
design.
In styling, the white box used
to be the only available choice.
Now, Princess, for example, offers
different looks, more like conventional
cookware.
Princess (a mid-size player selling
4 million units yearly) has its
bread makers manufactured in a Chinese
joint venture, in the Shunned region,
where most bread maker manufacturers
are located. The high-end brand
for bread makers is Panasonic, whose
sales have been affected by the
price erosion in the market. In
Germany, for instance, the mass
retailers aggressively sell Chinese
imports.
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