Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
Bread and bakery products in the United States - statistics & facts
Diets in high-income countries such as the United States consist of a lot of fats, animal products, sweeteners, and other products in addition to the ever-present food staples such as bread. Despite the comparatively lower share of staples in the food supply of these nations, staples still make up the largest part of food intake. For example, consumers in the United States eat quite a lot of bread annually. Bread consumption in the U.S. amounts to 6.87 billion kilograms, or 25.93 kilograms per capita. In addition to bread, Americans consume a sizable amount of cake and pastry goods, namely 2.75 billion kilograms in 2024.
The U.S. bread and bakery product market
The U.S. bread market generates 25.93 billion U.S. dollars in revenues. Preserved pastry goods and cake add 27.29 billion dollars bringing the combined total close to 53.22 billion U.S. dollars. The largest slice of the bread market is made up of leavened bread. Cakes can be broken down into unpackaged and packaged cakes. Roughly 57 percent of the market is comprised of unpackaged cakes, while the rest is packaged. The U.S. is a large importer of baked goods. Its baked goods imports come to 10.62 billion U.S. dollars. The import value far exceeds the value of exports of bread, pastry, cakes, and other items.Artisanal, private label, and brand performance
The largest share of bread sold in the U.S. is artisanal, in spite of the important position of supermarkets in grocery retail. Only when private label sales and the sales of the five biggest brands are counted together do they amount to a higher sales value than that of artisanal bread, underscoring artisanal importance in this market. For cakes and pastries, artisanal sales are also the leading category. Groupo Bimbo is one of the leading bread and pastry companies operating in the U.S. market. Its brand Sara Lee is the leading brands after artisanal and private labels in the bread category. It's brand Entenmann's is one of the leading brands in the cake and in the pastry market.
