Dirty bread – a calorie-rich Chinese
chocolate croissant hyped to stratospheric
heights in the past year – will
start to lose its popularity within
hyper-connected millennials and Gen Z
communities as it becomes too passe
to be cool. Data and analytics company
GlobalData says the bread, born from
attention-seeking generations’ desire
to be non-conformist and locally
known as Zang Zang Bao, will start
losing its share of the market this year.
The ‘dirty bread’ concept originated
from a small bakery in Beijing called
Bad Farmers & Our Bakery, and is
made with a large amount of chocolate
and cream, then covered in cocoa
powder to create the ‘dirty’ appearance.
It is considered a “messy eating
experience, and chocolate stains after
eating, hence the word ‘dirty’ in the
name,” GlobalData consumer analyst
Irene Bi says. “Over the past few
months, many consumers, particularly
young women, are increasingly sharing
pictures of themselves on social media
platforms with their face, fingers
and teeth covered in dirty bread,”
she says. “This has created a huge
internet hype for the bread, which is
only available at limited hours every
day and sees long lines develop in
sub-zero temperatures. But the high
calorie content makes it an indulgent
treat that is going away from the
mainstream health trend.” Bi says
the most unique selling point of 'dirty
bread’ is the untidy feature – a key
element for creating attention-grabbing
images for social media. “However, as
soon as the initial hype is gone, such
an offering is unlikely to sustain its
demand in the long term due to the
negative health impact.” GlobalData
surveys have found health to be a
priority when it comes to food choices
over experience. In its latest survey,
Chinese consumers aged 18-24 were
asked what factors had the most influence
on their food product choice. The
results showed that significantly more
people chose health and wellness
(23%) over sensory benefits (5%). “Instagrammable
or WeChat-worthy food
may be sufficient to entice consumers
to experiment in the first place, but
to make it a longstanding trend rather
than a short-lived fad, it is vital to make
sure that the offering is aligning with
more important consumer needs,” Bi
says.
“We are really proud to receive this award, which is testament
to the expertise of our cheesemakers. Making NZMP cheese
is a collaborative affair, with Fonterra cheesemakers working
together to carefully guide a cheese through its development to
maturity. We carefully select the best ingredients to make the
very best natural cheese and we take great care to make sure
that every block is perfectly made for its intended use before we
bring it to the market,” Fonterra site manager at Stirling Dwayne
Smith says. The bi-annual competition attracted a record-breaking
3402 entries in more than 120 categories, with Fonterra’s
cheese scoring an impressive 99.15 out of 100. Fonterra plant
manager (Hautapu Cheese) Ross Burdett and Fonterra process
project manager and cheesemaker Iain O’Donnell from Fonterra’s
Lichfield site agree that their cheese teams feel honoured
to have their work recognised on the world stage. The World
Championship Cheese Contest, initiated in 1957, is the largest
technical cheese, butter and yogurt competition in the world. A
team of 56 internationally renowned judges technically evaluated
all entries over the three-day competition and commended
the winners for their innovation and commitment to their craft.
NZMP natural cheese and cream ingredients are exported to
food manufacturers in more than 130 countries.
YUM… BUT IS IT
INSTAGRAMMABLE?
WIN FOR
FONTERRA
Coming runner-up for its NZMP threeto
six month cheddar cheese and NZMP
unsalted butter in the 2018 World
Championship Cheese Contest in the
US has not disappointed Fonterra.
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