Lantmännen Unibake: Our two strategies for baking healthier products

Lantmännen Unibake has set out on an important mission to positively impact public health by more than doubling the volume of healthier bread products by 2030. To reach that goal, the company is working with two parallel strategies.

“The first strategy is to adjust existing recipes to make them healthier. That could be by reducing the amount of salt or calories or by increasing the amount of wholegrains or fibre in the products. Changing existing recipes is in some ways the hardest thing to do even if it merely means taking out a bit of salt or adding a small amount of fibre,” says Mikkel Andersen, Global Category Manager and Health & Nutrition lead at Lantmännen Unibake International.

“Our customers in retail, food service or other channels know how our products look and taste, and usually like them just as they are. In their minds, it comes with risk when you change products with a proven track record. As bakery experts our job is of course to challenge that perspective. There are many ways to improve the health profile of a bakery product without compromising taste. We have already done that on several occasions,” Mikkel Andersen says and points to a long and not-exhaustive list of reformulations:

• The fast-food chain Hesburger’s launch of hamburger buns with less salt in Finland
• A relaunch of Korvbrödsbagarn’s fibre hamburger buns and hot dog rolls with even more wholegrain and fibre in Sweden
• A salt reduction in garlic baguettes and artisan rolls in Norway
• An increased addition of wholegrain to a number of ‘brown’ baguettes in Belgium
• A salt reduction in four street food buns in Finland
• Addition of fibre and reduction of salt in a long range of burger buns and bread items in Belgium
• More wholegrain and fibre in REMA 1000’s soft buns, toast, and sandwich loaves in Denmark

The innovation approach

The other strategy for making Lantmännen Unibake’s product portfolio healthier is by taking an innovative approach and create new products that are healthier from birth.

“Health & Wellbeing has been a global megatrend for decades in the Western World. From consumer surveys we know that people have a high interest in baked goods with a healthier profile. They really want to make healthy choices – as long as it does not jeopardize taste or perceived product quality,” says Mikkel Andersen. “Therefore, we are innovating our baking techniques and exploring healthier alternatives to traditional ingredients to meet the growing demand.”

With its roots in the Nordics, Lantmännen Unibake has always focused on nutrition and have a long list of products that boast the local health & nutrition front-of-pack symbols such as the Scandinavian Keyhole mark, the Heart symbol (Finland), the Whole Grain stamp (Denmark) and 3 or 4 pies on the Norwegian Wholegrain Bread Scale.

The launch frequency of products with high nutritional value has increased the past few years, including:

• The launch of Mørk Kerneglød which complements the Schulstad Levebrød series – products with more than 50% wholegrain content in Denmark
• The launch of “Better Buns” which are hamburger buns high in fibre and with low salt and lower CO2 footprint in Germany
• The launch of Hatting wholegrain rolls with reduced salt in Norway
• The launch of six artisan demi-loaves with more fibre and reduced sodium in the US
• A new hole baguette with low salt and sugar levels and added fibre and sourdough in Poland
• The launch of a soft Hatting wholegrain gourmet hamburger bun in Norway

Taste is still king

For Lantmännen Unibake it is important to back up their ambitious health & nutrition targets with tangible examples of making actual progress. It requires actions to drive engagement and move the needle. That is why Lantmännen Unibake has accelerated the process of launching new projects with a healthier product profile.

“The key to driving change in the food sector and make products healthier is to always remember rule number one: Taste is king. No matter what we do, and how we do it, our products must taste good and look visually appealing. Otherwise, they will never be a success,” Mikkel Andersen emphasizes.

“However, rule number one still leaves plenty of room for innovation. For example, it is a fact that humans most often cannot taste the difference if you reduce the amount of salt in a bread product by 10% in a direct comparison. If you take a hamburger bun or a sandwich bun and consider all the other ingredients that come with a burger or sandwich meal, it becomes even clearer that reducing the salt intake is a feasible way forward. And that little adjustment has a significant impact on public health. So, I’m positive that we have the tools in place to make a difference with our portfolio of health improved products,” he ends.