Durable baked have replaced the traditional fresh bread, the consumption of which has dropped by almost one quarter in the last 25 years, according to a recent analysis.
Back in 1990, average Slovaks eat 50 kilograms of bread per capita annually, today the consumption plummeted to 38.6 kilograms.
"The lower consumption of bread reflects a lifestyle change, as well as underestimation of the role of nutrition," reacts Bohumír Sabo, executive director of the Slovak Union of Bakers and Confectioners.
Asked why Slovaks were avoiding bread, the head of the bakers’ union said that “Bread is often portrayed in a negative light due to the fact that is such a high source of carbohydrate. With low carbohydrate diets all the rage, it is easy to see why many people are avoiding bread.”
Following the political changes in 1989, baguettes appeared on the Slovak market, but their success was short-lived. "It was a fashion wave that subsided,” Bohumír Sabo maintains.
The situation is not much different in the neighbouring Czech Republic. According to the Czech Statistical Office, bread consumption per capita in decreased year-on-yearly by four per cents from 43 kilograms in 2012 to 40 kilograms in 2013.
However, bread is still popular in Slovakia. To celebrate World Bread Day on October 16, Slovakia’s biggest bread (pictured) was baked at the Nitra-based Penam bakery. The classical wheat-rye bread was 229 centimetres long, 83 centimetres wide and weighed 36 kilograms. It also represents the weight of bread an average Slovak eats in a year.
© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article written by László Juhász
