The Federation of Bakers, which includes brand heavyweights such as Kingsmill, Hovis and Warburtons as members, has teamed up with the Flour Advisory Bureau for the hunt.
PRWeek has seen documents revealing that the organisations are looking to bring in agency help ‘to raise awareness of the nutritional and health benefits of bread and the bread industry as a whole’.
News of the search comes as the market has been hit by negative publicity around widely reported rises in wheat prices owing to adverse weather conditions.
There have been price rises of up to 20p per loaf during the past three months as a result of previous droughts in the US and floods in the UK.
A well-placed agency source said: ‘There is obviously an issue with wheat prices in terms of them going up, and recently there have also been mixed messages around what types of bread are healthy and which are not. Both of these things are likely to be an issue for consideration.’
The source added: ‘There will be companies trying hard to stay on consumers’ shopping lists, in what is an increasingly competitive market, with a whole range of products looking to fill the snacking gap especially.’
The UK baking industry is worth £3bn annually and employs more than 20,000 people.
The Federation of Bakers has nine member firms, while the Flour Advisory Bureau provides information on all matters relating to flour and bread in the UK to the public, media, schools and health professionals, as well as the catering, retailing and baking trades.
The Federation of Bakers declined to comment.
