In 2013, consumer outlays for bread eclipsed those for rice, as consumption of baked goods has come to command an increasingly large portion of the household budget.
These are the findings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which reported that in 2014 the average annual household outlays for rice (¥25,108) represented a year-on-year decline of 10%, whereas spending on bread and other baked goods grew 4% to ¥29,210 per year.
With demand driven mainly by adult women purchasers, the Nikkei Marketing Journal (4 March) noted that competition has been heating up, with retailers devoting additional sales space to baked goods.
When Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co. Ltd. in Kyoto underwent major renovations to its food basement in 2014, it apportioned 200m2 to The Bakery: five outlets that offer some 250 varieties of bread, including 10 types of croissants.
One outlet is Le Petit Mec, which translates as “the little bloke”.
A 48-year-old housewife who shops at The Bakery daily, told the Nikkei Marketing Journal, “The more I eat bread with my breakfast, the more I want to indulge myself”.
Noting that an estimated 55% of patrons are women aged 60 and over, Ryosuke Imai, manager of Daimaru’s food floor, says that affluent women in their forties and fifties are increasingly moved to plan meals with bread as the staple.
Alongside a 10% increase in floor space, Daimaru’s sales of baked goods are reported to have risen 20%. This increase has boosted demand for items that typically accompany bread and rolls, such as smoked ham, cheese and olive oil.
The president of Kobe-based Donc, which operates 180 outlets around the country, noted that customers have become selective about bread varieties and their flavours.
For instance, demand for German-style rye bread, with its characteristic sour aroma, has risen four- to five-fold, compared with 10 years ago.
One reason that outlays for bread have grown may also be consumers’ willingness to shell out more at the cash register. At Donc outlets, a loaf of French rustic-style pain de lodeve sells for ¥519.
With more people cutting back on their expenditure since the increase in the consumption tax rate in April 2014, the growing appeal of bread may reflect the sentiment that “One can enjoy a feeling of indulgence with the outlay of just a few hundred yen”.