Consumers Want More Choice. Can Your Production Line Keep Up?
One product does not fit every consumer
Consumers are different. They have different tastes, lifestyles, habits and expectations. One consumer may look for convenience. Another may focus on ingredients. Someone else may want a smaller portion, a different flavour, or a product that better fits their personal nutrition goals.
This creates opportunities for bakery producers. But it also creates a challenge: how can you offer more choice without making production too complex?
The pressure is measurable. In a DLG survey of European food manufacturers, 89% agreed that end-consumer demands on food are becoming more and more complex, and almost two-thirds (64%) said they must already produce several product variants of the same item just to sufficiently cover individual customer needs.
More choice can mean more complexity
From a consumer perspective, more choice can be attractive. From a production perspective, every new variation may create additional work. More products can mean:
• More ingredients
• More stock
• More production changes
• More cleaning
• More planning
• More quality checks
• More packaging options.
Personalisation may sound like a marketing opportunity, but it is also a technical and operational question. The goal should not be to create endless product variations. The goal should be to create relevant choice in a smart way.
Start with the consumer need
Not every trend requires a completely new product. Sometimes a small change can create a different consumer experience — for example:
• A different flavour
• A different filling
• A different topping
• A different portion size
• A different format
• A small recipe adjustment
Think in product platforms
One way to manage personalisation is to think in flexible product concepts. Instead of developing ten completely different products, producers can explore whether one strong base product can support several variations. For example:
- One base recipe → different flavours
- One dough system → different shapes and sizes
- One production process → different fillings or toppings
This approach can create more consumer choice while limiting unnecessary complexity. The simplest example is a croissant made in plain, chocolate-filled and cheese-filled variants: one base and three fillings, finished with different decoration. The base dough, proofing and baking process stay the same — only the filling and finishing step change, which keeps the added production complexity contained to one stage of the line rather than the entire process.
Of course, every variation still needs to be tested. Changes can influence:
- Dough behaviour
- Product structure
- Baking performance
- Texture
- Shelf life
- Product stability
This is where bakery science becomes essential.
Personalisation must work in practise
A concept may look attractive on paper. But can it be produced consistently? Can the product run on the existing line? Can quality be maintained? Can ingredients be managed efficiently? Can the product be scaled?
These questions should be part of product development from the beginning. Successful personalisation is not only about giving consumers more options — it is about creating options that also work for production.
Find the right level of choice
More choice is not always better. Too much choice can create complexity for producers and confusion for consumers. The challenge is to find the right level of variation. Ask:
- Which consumer needs are most important?
- Which variations create real value?
- Which changes are technically realistic?
- Which options can be produced efficiently?
- Which products can share ingredients or processes?
The strongest product concepts often connect consumer relevance with production simplicity.
Better for the consumer. Smarter for production.
Personalisation creates exciting opportunities for the bakery industry. But the future is not about producing a completely unique product for every person. It is about using product knowledge, process expertise and consumer insight to create smarter choices.
The key question is: how can we create more consumer relevance without creating unnecessary production complexity? That is where personalisation becomes a real bakery innovation opportunity.
Are you working on product variations or more personalised bakery concepts?
Join the Bakery Academy Community and share your product development challenges with other bakery professionals.
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