UK Bread Facts

• Bread remains one of the UK’s favourite foods, with 99% of households buying bread and the equivalent of nearly 12 million loaves are sold each day.  (source: Federation of Bakers). White bread accounts for 76% of the bread sold in the UK (source: DEFRA family food survey 2008).
• Over 200 different kinds of bread are produced in the UK - from butter rich brioche and crisp baguettes to farmhouse loaves and focaccia, soft ciabatta and crumpets to chapattis and flaky croissants. This diversity is only possible because of the vast range and quality of British flour available. For more information on the baking industry in the UK, please visit www.bakersfederation.org.uk.
• Not so long ago, bakers were encouraged to look abroad for quality flour. Now, the flour they use to create the chewy crusts and richly flavoured crumb of our finest breads is British. Every year in the UK, millers produce over 4.4 million tonnes of some of the best flour in Europe and 85% is milled from wheat grown in the UK (source DEFRA/nabim). Home grown grains, blended with small amounts of imported wheat, and the unsurpassed skill and efficiency of our millers, means that Britain is consistently producing exceptional flours.
• Each year 99 bread products are purchased per household (Source: TNS Superpanel, November 2009).
• Men eat bread more frequently than women: 44% of men eat bread twice a day compared with 25% of women (Source: Bread consumption in the British population: analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Surveys (Young people, 4-18 years, 1997 and Adults, 19-64 years, 2000-1).  Summary report developed by the MRC Human Nutrition Research, June 2007)
• The bakery sector has sales of £5bn.  (Source: TNS November 2009)
• 76% of the bread we eat is white and sandwiches account for up to 50% of this consumption. (Source: DEFRA family food survey 2008.)
• Large bakeries, which produce wrapped and sliced bread, account for 80% of UK bread production.  In store bakeries produce about 17% of bread, with the remainder accounted for by high street bakeries (source: Federation of Bakers.) 80% of bread is wrapped and sliced - for convenience, for keeping qualities and value for money.
• Bread  provides carbohydrates, B vitamins, protein and calcium. White flour is fortified with calcium, iron, thiamin and niacin
• Cereal and cereal products are an important source of calcium in the diet contributing 30% to the mean intake of calcium. Over one third of the contribution from cereals and cereal products comes from white bread (National Diet and Nutrition Survey). Four medium slices of white bread (140g) provides 248mg calcium which is 31% of the Recommended Daily Amount (source: McCance and Widdowson)
• Bread is also one of the nation’s main sources of dietary fibre. Four slices of wholemeal bread would provide 7g fibre (Englyst fibre) which is 39% of the Recommend Daily Amount for an adult.
• Average bread purchases are the equivalent of 43 loaves per person per year (source: DEFRA family food survey)
• Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented the first slice-and-wrap bread machine in 1928. He sold his pre-sliced, wrapped bread in a bakery at Battle Creek, Michigan. By 1933 80% of all bread sold in the US was sliced and wrapped the phrase ‘the best thing since sliced bread’ was coined.
• Sliced bread was introduced into the UK in the mid 1930’s.