SURVEY SHOWS SERVICE ICES THE CAKE

ROSEANNE HARPER

NEW ORLEANS -- Consumers are eating more cake than they did four years ago, and they care less about nutrition labeling than they do about customer service.

That's what Rosita Thomas, vice president of research operations for Frederick Schneider Research, Washington, told attendees at the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association's Dairy-Deli-Bake '99 seminar and expo here.

Thomas drew her conclusions from new consumer research commissioned by the Madison, Wis.-based IDDBA. Thomas conducted the study earlier this year for FSR and she presented the highlights at the IDDBA event. In her presentation, she made some comparisons between the findings in the new study and those in a 1995 consumer study that was also commissioned by the IDDBA. Thomas conducted the former study as well, as a researcher then employed by the Gallup Organization, Princeton, N.J.

The complete report on the new research, numbering about 150 pages, will be made available by the IDDBA later this year.

Thomas conducted her research via telephone interviews with 1,000 consumers who do at least half of the grocery shopping for their households and who purchase bakery products from in-store bakeries.

Seven out of 10 respondents said they purchase decorated special-occasion cakes, doughnuts and pastries, and that is about the same as it was in 1995, Thomas said. What's more important, 63% said they buy simple frosted or iced cakes.

"That's up nine points from 54% in 1995, and that's particularly significant since iced cakes are bought more often than special-occasion cakes," Thomas said.

She attributed some of the increased popularity of iced cakes to consumers being slightly less health-conscious that they were five years ago, as other data in the study revealed. But Thomas also noted that the increase could reflect an increase in the Hispanic population in the United States.

"First of all, there are more children in Hispanic households and also the Hispanic population loves cake," Thomas noted.

The data could send a signal to supermarket in-store bakeries that -- depending on the demographics of their marketing area -- it might be time to concentrate on ethnic marketing, she said.

The fact that consumers are moving away from buying fat-free and sugar-free bakery items and are not paying as much attention to nutrition labeling is a factor that could have helped boost the number of people buying sweet goods.

"I think people are leaning more toward moderation. If they're going to have a piece of cake or a cookie, they want it to be the real thing," Thomas said.

Consumers are less likely to say they have purchased and will continue to purchase low-fat, fat-free, reduced-sugar and sugar-free bakery products, she said. And she theorized that it may be because nobody has succeeded in making the taste of those items appealing enough to satisfy a lot of consumers.

A full 78% of respondents in Thomas' new study said they "believe you can eat anything as long as you do it in moderation." That figure is up dramatically since 1995 when only 52% of respondents said that. Indeed, only 72% of this year's respondents said they read nutritional labels. That's down from 78% in 1995.

When it comes to desserts, cheese cake and fruit pies continue to be America's favorites, Thomas said.

"Women favor cheese cake, and men tend toward fruit pies," Thomas said.

Americans not only are not abandoning dessert, more of them are starting their day with something sweet, Thomas pointed out.

Even with the bagel craze that swept the United States, sweet goods for breakfast are holding strong. Indeed, 35% of respondents in the current study said they eat sweet goods for breakfast at least once a week. That's up from 31% in 1995.

But the news isn't quite so sweet for the bread category.

The percentage of consumer-respondents who eat bread products for breakfast every day has declined from 42% in 1995 to 27% in 1999. The percentage eating bread for lunch every day has declined from 51% in 1995 to 41% in 1999. But more, 37%, are having bread with dinner every day. That's up from 32% in 1995.

"Those figures aren't as encouraging as those for sweet goods, but they're not daunting by any means," Thomas said.

If all bakery categories are combined, the supermarket bakery [as opposed to the commercial aisle, stand-alone bakeries, specialized bakeries like doughnut and bagel shops, and warehouse stores] holds the largest market share at 58%, and that's probably because it is inside a grocery store, Thomas said.

"Convenience is the sales driver in the in-store bakery," she said. A full 68% of respondents in this year's study said convenience is very important when it comes to buying bakery products, and that figure is up from 63% in 1995 (see chart, page 35).

Convenience, however, has its limits, the data indicates. Indeed, only 31% of respondents said it is important for the in-store bakery to have a self-service bin. That figure hasn't changed much, Thomas pointed out. In 1995, it was 32%. Part of the 1995 study included focus groups, which gave consumers a forum to elaborate on the "whys" of some their answers.

When it came to self-service bins, they had very strong concerns about sanitation, they said in that earlier study. And it's a fair assumption that that's still the reason most respondents don't want self-service bins, Thomas said.

Customer service was deemed much more important by this year's respondents. A full 78% said that it is "very important" for an in-store bakery to have friendly associates, and 72% said it is very important for those associates to be knowledgeable. Both those figures are up from 1995, when the percentages were 71% and 61%, respectively.

In this year's study, "quick service" was called very important by 67% of respondents. That compares with 62% who said it was very important in 1995. Also very important is associates' willingness to cater to customers' special needs, respondents said. The percentage who said that's very important was 52% this year compared with 47% in 1995.

The percentage of respondents completely satisfied with their in-store bakery remained about the same: 48% this year, 49% in 1995. But, noting that's less than half, Thomas said there's work to be done to close the performance gap in the in-store bakery.

She called attention to what respondents listed as "very important" and compared it with the percentage who said they were "completely satisfied" with that aspect of their in-store bakery.

Asked to list the 16 things they consider most important in the in-store bakery, respondents first listed the two top factors that were also listed in 1995: freshness of product and cleanliness of the department.

This year, 98% of respondents said freshness was very important, but only 69% said they were completely satisfied with that aspect of their in-store bakery. Also, 97% said cleanliness was very important, but only 73% said they were very satisfied. In 1995, 94% called freshness very important and 96%, cleanliness. The percentage satisfied were 63% and 73%, respectively.

This year, 96% said a consistently good product was very important to them, but only 70% said they were satisfied. And significantly, 96% said safe food handling was very important to them. Just 74% said they were satisfied that food was being handled safely in their in-store bakeries.

On price, 80% said it was very important. That's up 5 percentage points from 75% in 1995. The percentages satisfied with prices were 39% and 36%, respectively.

The latter is not a surprise, Thomas said, because consumers are never satisfied with prices. But with the other factors, she said supermarkets could get to work closing the gaps.

It's not necessarily true that in-store bakeries aren't meeting customers' expectations on the points they deem important. It could be that they're just not telling their customers what they're doing, Thomas said.

She suggested putting up some signs that clearly define how fresh the product is, such as, "All bakery products baked fresh every day."

"There has to be more communication. Supermarkets need to listen to what their customers' concerns are and then address them," Thomas said.