Jul 30 2010 --- Consumer interest in healthy eating, artisan foods and "localism" countered recessionary pressures and helped fuel the fresh baked goods market to grow 4% in 2009 to reach $16 billion, according to "Fresh Baked Goods in the U.S." by Packaged Facts.

Total fresh baked goods sales experienced slow but steady growth in the 2%-4% range throughout the 2005-2009 period, with the exception of 2008 when the market saw almost 6% growth. Fresh baked goods sales from in-store bakeries including those of warehouse clubs also experienced steady growth, in the 2%-5% range, reaching $11 billion in 2010 and comprising nearly three-quarters of the total retail market.

Packaged Facts projects that the market for fresh bakes goods will exceed $20 billion by 2014.

Packaged Facts divides the fresh baked goods market into two major product classifications: sweet baked goods and breads. The sweet baked goods classification encompasses cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pies, brownies and other baked dessert products. The breads classification encompasses bread (including sliced and unsliced loaves), rolls, pitas and croissants. This report also discusses breakfast baked goods (which overlap both classifications), including doughnuts, muffins, breakfast breads, bagels/bialys and sweet rolls.

"Although fresh baked goods are produced and sold in a wide variety of retail channels, certain overriding trends have affected how these products are marketed across most channels," says Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts. "For example, consumer demand for specific kinds of products -- such as those that fill specific dietary needs or budgetary concerns -- has led retailers to adapt in terms of both product offerings and marketing strategies. In the fresh baked goods market, those bakeries that have managed to succeed in this challenging environment have done so by evaluating and quickly responding to these shifts in consumer demand with products that fulfill a variety of consumer needs and wants."