BVP Trends 2025: The New Market Dynamics

The bakery-pastry sector is evolving rapidly due to social change, new consumer habits, and a growing demand for innovation and sustainability. For market players, understanding these trends is essential to anticipate consumer expectations and position themselves strategically.

Comfort Food and Emotional Revival

Food is no longer just functional—it has become a source of social connection, emotion, and nostalgia. Comfort food meets a growing need for reassurance and pleasure, especially in an uncertain economic context. This trend is driven by Millennials and Gen Z, who share their culinary experiences on social media and turn eating habits into consumption phenomena.
Brands should tap into this emotional quest by offering products that evoke childhood memories while incorporating a modern twist. Pastry classics are making a comeback, reimagined with premium ingredients and carefully crafted presentations.

Convenience and Snackification: A Shift in Food Service

Far from declining, the food service sector is redefining itself. The traditional notion of “restaurant” is giving way to a structure based on two pillars:

• Gourmet pleasure, where sensory experience is key—especially for dinners and weekends.
• Functional efficiency, where speed, price, and convenience dominate—particularly at lunchtime.
  Snackification is booming, with rising demand for portable formats and on-the-go options like our focatine, escargotines, and fozza. The breakdown of traditional meals encourages mini-formats and solutions adapted to new lifestyles.
  With 57% of French people visiting a snack outlet at least once a week, the market is shifting toward quick, practical formats—sandwiches, quiches, and ready-to-eat products. Snack sales are projected to grow 15% by 2026, reaching €5.4 billion.
  As a result, snacking now represents a significant portion of bakery revenue—over 15% in some outlets—and this could keep rising in the coming years.

Health and Naturalness: Towards Balanced Eating

While indulgence remains central, nutritional balance is a strong trend. By 2025, consumers expect products to be:
• Less processed, with short and understandable ingredient lists.
• Lower in sugar and fat, yet still indulgent.
• High in fiber and protein to support digestive health.
Bread—an iconic staple of French culinary heritage—is part of this shift. While the baguette remains a staple, special breads (whole grain, multigrain, organic) are growing fast, now accounting for over 40% of sales—and we happen to have plenty baking in our ovens!
Consumers are turning to whole grain, rye, and seed-enriched breads for their fiber and nutrient content. The organic bakery market is also booming, growing from €324 million to €546 million in just a few years.
This diversification responds not only to health concerns but also to a craving for richer and more varied flavors. For bakers and manufacturers, it’s a strategic opportunity to stand out with innovative recipes.

Sustainability and Local Commitment: A Key Purchasing Factor

Consumers now expect more than just an organic label—they want food that reduces carbon footprints, promotes regenerative farming, and limits food waste. Key levers include:
• Local sourcing and short supply chains for transparency and quality.
• Use of upcycled ingredients.
• Packaging optimization to reduce environmental impact.
The challenge for manufacturers is to blend innovation, sustainability, and flavor to offer value that meets expectations while remaining economically viable. Novepan is committed to this cause through our Clean Label Charter and our involvement since 2018 in the UN Global Compact’s social responsibility initiative.

Sensory Experiences and Flavor Hybridization

Consumers are looking for surprise and originality in their food choices. The rise of hybrid products—brookies, cruffins, croissant burgers—reflects this desire for new textures and flavor combinations.
Culinary globalization is also influencing taste trends:
• Asian inspirations: matcha, yuzu, mochi.
• American inspirations: cookies, donuts, rolls.
The goal for brands is to offer instant pleasure (fat, sugar, crunch) while adding more refined experiences that provide lasting satisfaction.
Our snack range is all about fusion—our Fozza, for example, combines focaccia dough with pizza toppings, resulting in indulgent recipes your customers will love.

Bakery: A Key Player in Fast Food

With the rise of coffee shops and savory snacks, bakery-pastry shops are emerging as serious alternatives to traditional fast food.
Bread-based products—tartines, fougasses, premium sandwiches—are booming and help diversify bakery offerings. Some brands even include in-store seating to enhance the customer experience and build loyalty.

2025 marks a turning point for the BVP sector, blending tradition and innovation. Far from being static, the market is transforming to meet growing needs for pleasure, practicality, and sustainable engagement.
Bakery-pastry professionals now have the opportunity to innovate while staying true to what consumers expect: food that is indulgent, healthy, ethical, and sensorial.

Feeling inspired by these trends?
Contact us to explore our product range or co-create your Signature product!
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